Nine Princes, One Princess
by Secret.Wings
Summary: Mikan always liked her life as how it was. She had friends, got good grades and was happy. Until the only teacher she really, really disliked, changed her whole life with just one punishment: Making her the servant of Gakuen Alice's Nine Princes.
1. Chapter 1

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**  
9 + 1 is 2

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

_

* * *

_

_**T**__his story is dedicated to:_

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out;__  
Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning;  
And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**O**__ne**  
H**__ow it al began_

I always hear from my friends that they really would like to be a princess. You're rich, people obey you and help you with everything you do, you live in a huge palace and above all… There's the knight in shiny armor.

But I soon realized that I don't need to be a princess to become a girl who lives her life peacefully. I already have the best life on Earth. I've got friends, my grades are pretty good and I'm in love.

However, even princesses have something they really dislike about their life. That would probably be the fact they have no freedom.

Don't misunderstand! I didn't say that I don't have any freedom! I just say that I have something I don't like about my life too.

So, here it comes. The thing I really dislike about my life is…

"Sakura! I said you had to clean this room, not talk with friends!"

My teacher Math, Jinno. Jin-Jin - that's how we call him – seems to really dislike me and likes to pick on me with dirty jobs. You bet he likes to punish me when it's necessary.

I already am used to it.

Thanks to my imaginations, I can fulfill the jobs and punishments he's got for me with success. Why, you ask? Because I always imagine him as the stepmother of Cinderella. They've got just the same personality.

I 'didn't do my homework' today, so I'm now being punished. Of course, I DID do my homework. Though it was suddenly gone when he asked me the answer of question 16, which was extremely hard to answer without the answer sheets, which I lost…

"Yes, sensei."

"Hmph." Jinno left the room with a sharp look at her and the table she was just cleaning. As the door behind him finally closed with a loud 'BANG!', she sighed in relief. Anna, who stood next to her, also was relieved and loosened her grip on her books.

Anna is one of my best friends. You can call her a really cute and pretty girl, who's smart, and optimistic about everything. She understands others' feelings and helps them if it's necessary. A real Bishoujo is what you can call her. Long, curly, pink hair and blue eyes makes her pretty popular among the boys.

"Phew, Jin-Jin is really grumpy today." She sighed.

"Yup, and the more reason for him to punish me even more."

"Today, we were planning on shopping in Central Town, do you want to come?"

With 'we', Anna actually meant Nonoko, Hotaru and her.

Nonoko and Anna are BFF, Best Friends Forever, for the dummies. Nonoko was just like Anna a Bishoujo. Her long and navy blue hair and intelligence, which made her the 'favorite' of the teachers. Believe it or not, her IQ was higher than 200, though there were still _some_ people in our academy who scored a _little_ bit higher.

One of those people was Hotaru. Hotaru's my BFF, though she doesn't really look like she cares about me. But deep in my heart, I know, she really, really cares about me. Hotaru, mysterious yet elegant, cares about me. And that's what counts and what makes my life complete.

"Mikan…?" A hand waving in front of my eyes and yet I only could notice it when I heard my name.

"Sorry Anna. Yes?"

"Shopping?" Shopping, what was she talking about? Oh! The trip, she means!

"Oh, sorry, I can't. Homework." Of course, all three were super intelligent, their homework was done already. I, silly and dense Mikan, didn't finish my homework yet. Jin-Jin gave me extra homework.

"Oh, another time then…" She was quite disappointed. A silence followed. Not only was my homework the hindrance, my money and allowance was it too.

You see, I come from a poor family. Even though the school gives your allowance, based on you star rank, I still don't get enough to go shopping.

Noise came from outside, which broke the silence. Oh, it was _that_ time. On _that_ time, _they_ would come from school and go their dorm. Correction, that thing what was supposed to be a dorm was as huge as a palace, so it's actually a palace.

"KYAAA!"

"NATSUME-KUN!!!"

"KOKO-KUN!"

"TSU-CHAN!"

Tsu-chan? Oh, they were talking about Tsubasa.

"RU-" I started to play with my fingers. "KA-KUN!" Slowly, I could feel my face turn warmer and warmer.

Anna, who stared at how stupid I acted, suddenly started to giggle.

"Ne, ne, Mikan-chan… Did you already put it in his locker?"

With 'it', she meant a love letter I wrote to _him_.

"I did."

* * *

_**F**__lashback_

"_Natsume, let's go" A locker closed with a soft bang._

"_Hn."_

_And two figures disappeared from the corner, but from the other corner, another figure appeared again. Sneaky, it looked around. Then, fast and hasty, it shoved an envelop in the locker._

_A 'Yes!' followed and the mysterious figure disappeared again._

_**E**__nd of __**F**__lashback_

* * *

Now, Anna's giggle started to turn out in a laugh.

I groaned, trying to say she doesn't have to laugh so idiotically. Too bad for me, she didn't stop, but laughed even louder. Then she stopped, abruptly.

At that moment, Jinno came in again, looked around and said on a grumpy way: "You may go, Sakura."

I smiled to Anna; she smiled back. We ran outside. Freedom! And bump. Not much later, I could feel myself lying on the hard and cold ground, with Anna next to me.

"Oh, Anna, I'm so sorry! Are you alright?" I tried to stand up. "Anna?" But that wasn't Anna. That was…

PRINCE NO. 2!

Now, I can hear you all ask, who's prince no. 2?

Our school is divided in two sections: The section for the 'rich' people, the elite section. And the second section: The section for the 'poor' people, the normal section. Anna, Hotaru, Nonoko and I are normal section-pupils.

The nine princes, nine boys whose parents are ultra, ultra rich, are the academy's honored pupils, since they are also the richest in the whole academy. Not were they called princes just because of their money, also because of their prince-like looks.

Each prince has at least two fan clubs with 100 members. And each prince had his own nickname, which was thought of by the fan-girls.

Also, they were divided in three groups: The hot princes, the charming princes and the cool princes.

The hot princes are pretty cold, get angry easily and act really spoiled. But everyone has to agree; they're all handsome and hot.

The charming princes are the opposite of the hot princes. They are just the gentle and calm princes, who don't act spoiled at all.

And the cool princes are not literary cool. They are just… eh… cool. All are very carefree and act like they don't even know they're rich.

Still, I didn't answer your question; who's Prince no. 2?

The nine princes are ranked, based on their look.

The least popular one among the girls is Mochiage, the one who always has a grumpy expression, like he didn't sleep well. So he's ranked 9, though his Alice is pretty cool.

Ranked 8, Kitsunume is one of the typical idiotically, yet funny boys who are, indeed, known as one of the cool princes.

No. 7. Tobita Yuu, smart and kind-hearted, which makes him a very lovable boy. Not for nothing, he was divided in the group of the charming princes.

But, no. 6 was pretty special. Why? Because he was a few years (3, to be precise) younger than the other princes, though he was more responsible than most of them. Hijiri Youichii was popular because of the cute expression (to be honest, he didn't wear any expressions) he wore day in day out on his face. However, he still belonged to the hotties.

"_Mikan…"_

No. 5 was like the twin brother of no. 8. Kokoroyome, Koko for short, was almost identical to Kitsunume. In the inside. But because of the outside, he gained a few more points than his best friend did. Still, with that one exception, they were identical, even with the groups they were divided in.

Sono Kaname, ranked number 4, got this rank because of his gentleness but also because of his good and cute looks. No wonder he was the second favorite 'Charming' Prince of most of the fan-girls. With his Alice, he transfers souls into his handmade stuffed animals! Isn't that cute?

Oops.

Now I say so, I didn't tell you about the so-called Alices yet, did I?

Our academy is called Gakuen Alice, also known as Alice Academy. It's a special academy for children with an Alice. An Alice is just some kind of… er… 'Magical Power'.

The Alice all vary; From the Farting Alice (which is pretty disgusting) to the Alice of Invention (Hotaru's Alice).

I have the Nullification Alice.

.

Oh no, I'm getting out of the original topic.

Eh… What ranking was next?

Oh yeah, no.3.

No. 3 was a real heartthrob, though he, Andou Tsubasa, didn't really know that himself. You could call him a really sportive guy, who was good with many, many sports. Though it was a bit unsure, the fan-girls divided him in the group of 'cool' princes, since he's an easygoing person, which doesn't make him a 'hottie' at all.

And now, drum rolls, time for prince no.2. My one and only crush: Nogi Ruka. Ruka was a mixture of all the 'Charming' princes, which made him the one and only no.1 of all the 'Charming' princes and a second place of all nine princes. I met him on the first day when I accidentally tripped and…

"Mikan!"

I shot awake. Wait, this wasn't time for thinking about that. I had just bumped into my crush! Did he read _it_ already? Does he think I'm stupid? Is he going to reject me?

I opened my eyes.

Oww… My head hurts. The ground is so…

Wait, the floor isn't hard at all. It doesn't really hurt. How-…

And then I realized it.

When I realized it, I wished I'd die. I wished I'd sink to the bottom of the deepest ocean on Earth.

I was lying on prince no. 1. The best of the best, the hottest of the hottest: Hyuuga Natsume. Arrogant, but super, super smart and damn rich. This bastard was the only reason I disliked the Nine Princes. Hyuuga Natsume was a pervert, who still peeked on girls' panties. And that while he's 15 already! 15! Isn't that a bit old?! C'mon, he isn't in kindergarten anymore.

However, I have to admit, he'd be a perfect boyfriend if he eliminated that bad point of his. His grades were just filled with A+s. He was a sports-prodigy. His wallet was just filled and filled with billion Rabbits (the money of the Academy). And above all, he had the looks.

And now, I was lying on him. I was lying on the perfect boyfriend for the most girls of the school. And oh hell, am I going to be killed soon.

Killed by Hotaru, because I acted idiotically again.

Killed by fan-girls, because I was lying on their Natsume-sama.

And killed by the holy Natsume-sama himself, because I dirtied him.

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**(A/N) Third fanfic and second Gakuen Alice fanfic. Hallelujah! So, how was it? Did you like it? Do you feel disappointed? Do you want me to update fast (not going to happen, anyway)? Or are you hungry and want me to give you come cookies or a piece of pie (I really like pie, by the way)?**

**Review and tell me your thoughts!**

**Edit: Woke up this morning and found 22 new messages filled with information about reviews, Author Alerts, Favorite alerts etc.. I feel honored.  
Also, I forgot to mention no. 3's name, which was Tsubasa, like a few of you probably already knew (You see, I wrote it a bit hastily).**

**Thank you for reviewing, alerting and reading!**

**S.W**


	2. Chapter 2

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

**

* * *

**

9 + 1 is 2

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

_

* * *

_

_**T**__his story is dedicated to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out - Plus scaring me off with clowns;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**T**__wo**  
A **__**P**__unishment __**F**__or the __**P**__rincess_

_

* * *

_

_And now, I was lying on him. I was lying on the perfect boyfriend for the most girls of the school. And oh hell, am I going to be killed soon._

_Killed by Hotaru, because I acted idiotically again._

_Killed by fan-girls, because I was lying on their Natsume-sama._

_And killed by the holy Natsume-sama himself, because I dirtied._

_

* * *

_

As my right eyebrow twitched up and down, my mouth formed a nervous smile. Oh god, how long have I been lying here? I seriously shouldn't daydream anymore.

"Mikan…" Anna. "WATCH OUT!"

Eh? Watch out for what?

And then it felt warm. What felt warm? My hair felt warm.

Why was my hair-?

OH SHIT! My hair is on fire!

Trying to stop the fire from burning, I started to blow. Didn't help, of course. Then I started to, well… er… slapping my hair to stop it. And I burned my hand.

From different sides, I could hear laughter. Girly laughter. The fan-girls were really amused by the fact my hair was burning. At least, that was a relief; they wouldn't kill me. However, their holy Natsume-sama would.

"YOU EVIL PERVERT! STOP IT!"

"Hm…?" He meant 'Oh, would I?'

"Natsume!"

Immediately, the fire was gone. My hair was safe, burnt, but safe.

My one and only knight in shiny armour had saved the princess (me). Nogi Ruka-sama!

Natsume groaned something. Seemed like he had fun burning my hair.

"Are you alright?" Ruka-sama helped me standing up by lending me a hand. I nodded. I couldn't do anything else. I was too surprised to be angry on Hyuuga or to say anything. In my mind now was only full of Ruka-sama. No Hyuuga, no Anna, no crazy fan-girls, not even myself. Only Ruka-sama.

He touched my hair for a little moment and looked at it, a bit angrily.

Then he turned to Natsume and said, in a blaming way: "Natsume, you've gone too far."

When he turned back, I realised his mind wasn't like mine, his mind wasn't filled with only one person. The magical spell broke. I was clearly awake. I could hear the fan-girls gasp like 'Oh my god! They are arguing!' Of course, they weren't really arguing. Ruka-sama was just telling Hyuuga his wrong.

"SAKURA!"

Everyone fell silent. No one dared to say anything, or even breathe by hearing that voice. The owner, Gakuen Alice's strictest teacher: Jinno.

"WHAT DID YOU DO NOW?!" As he came near, I started to get a bit nervous. By seeing the furious Jin-Jin, I realised that, this time, I was dead for sure.

"Young master Hyuuga, are you alright?" The way Jinno said that was just plain weird. He never acted that way towards other students.

Oh no, he didn't act that way to the _poor_ and _normal_ students, he was only nice with the _elite _and_ rich_ students. It was unbelievable how important the role of money was these days, or even in this ridiculous academy.

After he tried to help Hyuuga with patting the dirt away (of course, Hyuuga didn't let Jin-Jin touch him), he turned back to me. Still, really furious even though you would've thought he already cooled down a bit.

"How come you always come in troubles…?" He asked with a low and dangerous tone. "AND WHY AM I ALWAYS THE ONE WHO HAS TO TEACH YOU HOW YOU CAN DO THINGS WITHOUT CAUSING A STUPID ACCIDENT AGAIN?!" He suddenly turned around.

"NARUMI! Where are you?!"

A soft and nervous 'Hehehehe…' came from the crowd of fan-girls and Narumi-sensei appeared. Narumi-sensei is one of the nicest teachers of the academy and is totally the opposite of Jin-Jin.

"Jinno-sensei… Calm down a bit…" He said, still nervously. "It was just an accident."

"But Hyuuga-bocchama…"

"Natsume is alright, Jinno-sensei." Ruka-sama said. Jinno stared at him.

Ha! Ruka-sama protected me. What do you think now, Jin-Jin? Yes! 1-0 for me.

I almost wanted to stick my tongue out to Jin-Jin when I saw he decided on giving up, since even Ruka-sama thought it was just an innocent accident. However, I didn't do it when I saw the way of how Jin-Jin walked back to the classrooms. I could just see the sentences 'I won't let you go so easily' and 'Next time, you'll get a terrible punishment' burning on his back.

When he disappeared out of sight, I sighed and so did Narumi-sensei and Ruka-sama.

"Are you alright, Mikan?" Anna asked, worried.

I was about to nod when I suddenly felt someone glaring at me. And not only one glare, but many, many glares! I knew it, the fan-girls were jealous.

But then it shot in my mind again. Did Ruka-sama already read my love letter?

"Natsume, I'm hungry." Ranked 6, Youichii said. Natsume looked at him – he showed a soft side for a split second – and then said, determined: "We're going home, guys."

And Wham! They were gone and left me alone with Anna – Where the princes go, the fan-girls will follow – and my question unanswered. Anna, who always understood others' feelings –especially when it had something to do with love – directly knew I was worrying about one thing: My love letter.

"Don't worry, Mikan. I'm sure he doesn't think you're stupid or something. And he probably didn't read it yet. Then you can get the letter out of his locker." I stared at her for a while. I could get it out of his locker. But all my efforts on writing and 'delivering' the letter would go to a waste.

I shook my head slowly.

"No. I've been working hard for the letter. I don't want all my efforts to go to a waste." I said, desperate. "But thank you for your help, Anna."

.

That night, I couldn't close my eyes for even a second, even though I was tired.

.

The next morning, I didn't wake up; I was awake for the entire night. Didn't sleep, only worried.

I sighed. Going to school in days like these was the worst to do. At least, the chance of meeting _them _again was small, so I got a good reason to be a bit happy.

I changed to my school uniform and ate breakfast in the small canteen of the 'poor' division; the canteen of the elite division was much bigger.

Classes were about to start and I ran to the classroom without realising it myself. Everything happened without me realising it happening. I had no control over my body, only over my mind, filled with words like 'loser', 'stupid', 'idiot' etc. And that was exactly the reason of the biggest mistake I ever made:

I didn't pay attention to everything around me.

I came in the biggest hall of our division. Everyone who came here would still think it was a part of the other division, but it was really part of our division. A large hall with beautiful flowers in pretty expensive vases and large and pretty paintings on the wall. In the middle was the pride of this division standing: The statue of Maria. It was worth billions and was really, really pretty.

But I didn't pay attention to anything in it, nor did I to the girls nearing me. One of them waved with a hand in front of my eyes, then smirked and laughed in the end. I didn't do anything. All things I could see now, was nothing.

"Maybe she's drunk?"

"Heh… Then it would be easy for us to fulfil this mission." Another voice said.

"Serves her right. Thinking she's mighty and all just because Ruka-sama protected her. He did it because he finds her pathetic."

'Was I pathetic that time?' I questioned myself. I didn't even notice that one of the girls created a weird… let's call it a ball made of steal. Suddenly she threw it.

Directly, a sound of something breaking followed and they ran away, after someone yelled 'Return!' to let something made of steal return to her.

I was slow. I didn't see or hear anything, until I heard the loud sound and shot awake. Then, I saw a head lying on the ground.

I yelled, but then looked at it better, after a while. It wasn't a real head, nor had it a real face. It was made out of stone.

I bend over to lift it up and saw it was the head of Maria. The body was still standing in the middle of the hall. It was missing its head, which placed in my hands.

Many shocked students ran to me, after they heard my yell. Also, my biggest nightmare appeared: Jin-Jin.

And he didn't forget what happened what happened yesterday, it seemed. He first looked at the body and then at the head in my hand, shocked and surprised. His face went white, but then returned to its colour. Or even darker then what the colour was supposed to be. It was red. Red of anger, that was sure.

"SAKURA!" He screamed. Narumi-sensei and Serina-sensei also rushed to the statue. "HOW THE HELL COULD YOU DO THIS?! THAT STATUE IS WORTH 10.000.000 BUNNIES!"

"Sensei! I didn't do it! I really didn't! Two girls did!"

It was quiet. The students were watching the act; Serina-sensei took the head out of Mikan's head carefully and tried to place it on the body – the action failed -; Narumi-sensei looked disappointed at me and Jin-Jin was taking a deep breath before he said: "Sakura, this is the last time something like this will happen again." It sounded dangerous. "I've got enough of it all.

I know you can't pay off the debt to replace this statue. But I won't let you go so easily." His eyes were small but I could see he was dead serious. "The Hyuuga Corporation's boss was already searching for someone who'd take care of his son and friends in exchange of 500 Bunnies per week."

I stared at him, shocked. Does that mean I'll have to deal with… with… with… with the Nine Princes?! With Ruka-sama?! Hyuuga?! Them all?!

"No, please…" The thing I've disgusted the most… I was doing it.

I was begging Jinno.

"Please not…"

.

One hour later, I stood in front of a huge building.

This was called 'The Nine Princes' palace', huh? I had to admit, it was amazing. The size was amazing. The colours were amazing. Even the gate was amazing. Everything was just amazing. No wonder many fan-girls would kill to get in it, for only one second, it didn't matter for them. Even if they got to see only one glimpse.

"And what the hell are **YOU** doing here?"

I knew that voice. Ever since that incident yesterday, I knew I would never forget that damn voice.

"It's not like I'm here for fun, you pervert."

"Oh really, old hag?"

"Pig head."

"Idiot."

"Stupid."

"Ugly."

"Bastard."

"Strawberries."

Mikan looked at him with surprise.

"Why strawberries?"

He pointed at her skirt and then moved his hand like he was pulling something up. Or better said, like he was flipping a skirt. Mikan directly understood what he meant and her jaw dropped.

"NO! YOU DIDN'T!"

"Yes, I did." He said with a smirk, as he leaned on a wall, next to the huge gate door. "But my question was: What are you doing here?"

"Sakura-san is going to work in our dorm."

The huge gate doors opened, and Ruka-sama stood there.

Natsume raised his left eyebrow.

Not even a second later, seven other figures appeared next to Ruka-sama.

"Welcome, Sakura-san," the eight of them welcomed, "to the Nine Princes' Palace!"

* * *

**(A/N): So, I got loads of reviews asking for fast updates and warnings that if I didn't update fast, they would lose their interest in it. So… Here I am! With another chapter! I got loads of sweet reviews and I wanted to say: Thank you!**

**Oh… and before I forget…**

**A warning from me: The next chapters for both Luck Five and Nine Princes and One Princess will be delayed. Chapter 60 of GA is still waiting for me to be translated. Also, the GA RPG forum is getting busier and busier, so…**

**I hope you understand!**

**Thanks for alerting, reviewing, etc.!**

**~S.W**


	3. Chapter 3

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

**

* * *

**

9 and 1 is 2

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

_

* * *

_

_**T**__his story is dedicated to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out - Plus scaring me off with clowns;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**T**__hree**  
W**__elcome __to__** T**__he__** P**__alace._

_

* * *

_

"_But my question was: What are you doing here?"_

"_Sakura-san is going to work in our dorm."_

_The huge gate doors opened, and Ruka-sama stood there._

_Natsume raised his left eyebrow._

_Not even a second later, seven other figures appeared next to Ruka-sama._

"_Welcome, Sakura-san," the eight of them welcomed, "to the Nine Princes' Palace!"_

_

* * *

_

And there in a neat row, they stood next to each other. The one was tall; the other was short. The one was handsome; the other one was cute. All of them had their own aura and own way of living, you could see it directly.

An example: Kaname Sono, who was ranked 4, looked a lot friendlier than Mochiage, ranked 9, did. Or maybe Koko, no. 5. He was obviously less responsible than Tobita Yuu (no. 7) was.

.

Still, all of them were pretty lovable and special in their own way.

Now, they stood there, just for me and me only. And how honoured I felt…

.

**NOT.**

.

I wouldn't serve any of them, except for Ruka-sama, with pleasure. Not even for a billion Bunnies. I'd rather die than living… living in one huge palace with those so-called 'handsome, perfect, cute, hot, I don't know what-princes'.

First, the twins - Koko and I don't know his name anymore - look damn annoying by their damn annoying always-smiling expressions, especially when I'm feeling horrible (like now).

Second, that guy, Tsubasa Andou, looks just way too handsome. NOT NORMAL. Why can't he be just… less handsome?!

Third, that Yuu-person, he looks way too shy and kind. Can't he be rude or anything?

Fourth, that You-chan, like how the fan girls call him, why is he so popular? He seems like a second Hyuuga, but then in miniature version.

Then, that Sono-person. Is he really cute? I don't see anything special in him. Ruka-sama is much better than he is.

And that guy, over there. What was his name again? Mo-… Mocha? Or was it Mochi? Well, that guy can work on his smile. Ugly guy.

And last, the most horrible one was Hyuuga. That guy is just… Well… what can I say? PERVERTED.

…

But handsome.

…

I could feel that they all were staring at me. They were expecting me to say something like 'Oh my, I feel so honoured' or something like that.

Then, a grin appeared on Koko's damn annoying face.

"So I'm damn annoying?" He said, as he was about to laugh out loud. "And Mochu is an ugly guy?!" Now he really laughed out loud.

Eight faces turned to me. They understood that Koko, the one possessing the Mind reading Alice, had just sneaked into my thoughts without me knowing it and read everything I was thinking just now.

"Eh…"

"Koko! What did she say about me?!" One of them suddenly shouted, out of nothing.

"She said you're way too handsome!" Koko laughed, as if he didn't do that in ages. "And Yuu is too kind and shy! And Kana-tan isn't cute compared to-" Abruptly, he stopped. I gave him a death glare.

_If you dare to say it out loud, you won't be able to live your damn annoying life any further._

He stared at me, sheepishly. Then, he grinned again.

"Kana-tan isn't cute at all, compared to-" That was it. He's dead for sure. I raced to him, hit him and pulled the unconscious him with me and once we were at least 5 miles away from the other Princes. I shook him awake.

"You jerk. I warned you and you still don't listen to what I say." I groaned.

"Hey, you don't act that way to your boss, do you?"

"You're not my boss and never will be."

"Oh, really?" He asked, amused, obviously. "I have the right to lessen your payment, whenever I want, where I want and how much I want… And currently, I'm about to take away your payment for this. Whole. Week."

At that time, I realised that resisting the truth was pointless. It would only make me work even longer for them. The truth. I hated it. I hated everything about this.

How could my life just change for that one moment? That one moment when I was exactly at the wrong moment, at the wrong time. I was dazing off. I didn't know what that girl was doing. I didn't even know who she was…

Koko saw I was panicking, even though my posture, my expression, my looks didn't change at all. His smirk disappeared; He understood this was not the moment to joke around with me.

"Don't worry…" He said, as he stood up. "They will all be nice to you."

I didn't believe him, of course.

"Hyuuga will never, ever be nice to me."

"Don't worry about him." He said with a smile. Then, he gave me a soft push, in the direction of where the other Princes were. "Come."

.

This was the start of my likes towards the always-friendly Koko.

.

"My name is Sakura Mikan!" I bowed. "Please excuse me for my strange behaviour just now!" If I acted nice, would they ever raise my payment?

I looked up. The outcome was worse than I thought. Cold glares were coming at me, with like four gentle looks and one very shy look. As you could guess, the shy one came from Yuu, the four gentle and nice ones came from Ruka-sama, Kaname-san, Koko and Kitsuneme (Koko and Kitsuneme: Twins). But the ones bothering me, the cold glares, scared me a lot. What did they mean?

"Hm?" The leader, Hyuuga, spoke, at last. "So you can act pretty good, can't you?"

I gulped.

"Too bad, it's not good enough." Shit. He saw through me.

"Then," he sat down, "I hope for you that you're better with households, than with acting."

"Natsume, you should give her a chance." Ruka-sama spoke.

Natsume looked with a serious face at Ruka-sama for a minute. Then, he continued again.

"Okay. I'll give you a chance."

The other ones who gave me a cold glare just like their leader did – Mochu, Tsubasa and Youichii -, looked a bit surprised at him and then understood their leader had thought of a sly plan. They smirked.

"If you really want to prove that you want to work here…" Oh, I didn't want to. "Then you'll have to pass a test."

"A test?" I fell out. Couldn't they think of something more exiting? "How stupid."

Ignoring me, he continued: "We will test your cooking, your cleaning, your clothes-washing skills and we all will be giving your points, based on your attitude."

"No." Kaname-san rejected. "Sakura-san is good enough to not have to do such a silly test."

"Then, we'll vote. The side with the most votes win. They may know whether there's going to be a test…" He stood up again. "Or not."

"Who wants the test?" Tsubasa asked.

Four fingers raised themselves.

A smile appeared on my face. Four against five: that means there'll be no test.

"Who does not want the test?"

Five fingers were raised in the air. One hesitatingly.

"Okay." Tsubasa said. "This means the results are even." By hearing this, I had to laugh. Were they _this_ stupid?

"Sorry, but…" I brought out, with trouble. "But it's five against four. Five is more than four."

"Four?" Mochu repeated. "It's five, smarty."

"Five?"

"Natsume counts as two, duh."

"That's ridiculous!"

Again, glares were aimed at me.

"Did I hear you complain, _servant_?" Youichii asked, as he started to activate his Alice, which was related to a few certain spirits and that, obviously, didn't stand for anything good. Whoever could have thought that this small, cute-looking boy would actually be this evil?

"You didn't, Sir."

"So, she'll be doing the test!" Natsume decided.

"She won't!" Koko shouted. This was his very first time to not obey Natsume's decisions, and of course, Natsume himself, it seemed.

They started to fight each other. The ones against the test versus the ones for the test.

I started to panic. What should I do with a bunch of spoilt Princes fighting each other?

"OKAY!" I shouted, with all my might. "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!"

It was quite. They stopped fighting. The nine handsome faces were turned to me.

"I… I've made my decision." I said, a bit hesitating. Should I really do this? "I… I will do the test and pass it!"

I'm very, very, very sure I'll be regretting this decision… some day.

* * *

**(A/N): Yes, finally, I updated. This file was on my computer for a while and I suddenly got the urge to continue writing this chapter… so Voila! Here it is: Chapter 3. I know it was probably beneath your expectations, or very boring, in your mind, but I promise you: Next chapter will be hilarious! **

**Also, my other GA story is now officially declared as Under Hiatus! Please, understand why I made this decision. Life is too hectic and unforgiving. And I want to have fun too.**

**Please, if you enjoy reading this story, leave a review behind. It's a source of inspiration to me and makes me want to continue writing fan fictions… Especially for you!**

**,**

**With honour to present you a new chapter, once again.**


	4. Chapter 4

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

_9 + 1 is 2_

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

* * *

_**T**his story is dedicated to: _

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning_

And to you, for reading my story.

* * *

_**C**__hapter __**F**__our_

_**T**__he __**U**__nbelievable __**T**__est – **P**art 1 _

* * *

_T__hey started to fight each other. The ones against the test versus the ones for the test. _

_I started to panic. What should I do with a bunch of spoilt Princes fighting each other?_

"_OKAY!" I shouted, with all my might. "SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!"_

_It was quite. They stopped fighting. The nine handsome faces were turned to me._

"_I… I've made my decision." I said, a bit hesitating. Should I really do this? "I… I will do the test and pass it!"_

* * *

This was probably the first time ever since I met them that they were all quite. It was a bit scary. All their eyes were staring at me sheepishly, except for Hyuuga's. He seemed to be amused and proud that he was able to make me do this.

Damn him.

"Mochu, you explain." He said, as he turned away and went upstairs, via the gigantic staircase. I could just hear what Mochu thought; something with 'Why me?' and 'Why am I always the one doing the rubbish things?' He sighed, opened his mouth and started to look at me falsely.

"You." He started. "Are not going to survive this."

Okay. So, he actually was a very straightforward guy. No worries.

"And you will regret this. And you will suffer."

Very straightforward, indeed.

"The purpose of this test is to make us laugh."

The seven other Princes started to get a bit uncomfortable, some started to act as if they had just discovered their fingernails or suddenly realised there was a vase in the corner of the hall. I looked at all of them, a little bit blaming.

"First day is the cooking test. Second day is the cleaning test." He smirked. "And you will be washing our dirty clothes on the third day."

Why did that smirk get on my nerves?

"And the test will start tomorrow. You may stay there," he pointed to a small door under the staircases, "If you were to pass the test – which I doubt you will – you'll get another room.

"Excuse me; I've got something to do. Have a good day." He too, went upstairs with two others – Tsubasa and Youichii – and left me alone with the remaining five Princes.

.

"Will I really die?"

"Of course not, Sakura-san, don't be so silly. Mochu-san is just trying to scare you." Ruka-sama answered.

"And we will help you, of course." Koko added.

"Don't worry!" Kitsuneme shouted, as he started to jump around once again like some crazy gorilla.

"Shall we start with training her?"

"Training? Hey, wait!"

They all smirked, pulled me with them and went upstairs. Then, I ended up in some crazy room with two beds (_Why did they need two beds in one room?! All of them could have their own room_) and realized it was Kitsuneme's and Koko's room. Suddenly, all of them started to talk about good recipes and weird washing methods I could possibly use in the test.

I, however, just found it funny how much they knew about house-holds and such and listened to what they told me.

.

_And so, we came one step closer to a __blissful friendship._

.

The first day of the test came. The whole time, I could feel nervous stares aimed at me, all coming from the five who helped me with 'training'. None of them really talked to me, didn't ask whether or not I slept well in that so-called 'room' – I didn't –, nor did they wish me good luck.

I guess they still did, in their hearts.

I was appointed to make a breakfast for all nine. If I made it delicious for all nine, I'd pass the first day, it seemed. That's good, because if I were to pass at least two tests, I'd be able to work for them (Yippee…).

However, the bad point was…

.

_**I never cooked before.**_

.

I know it sounds stupid, but my Mum makes delicious food and I never was able to cook myself because she always does…

And the five princes didn't know that…

Koko stared at me and suddenly his jaw fell open. He ran to me, pulled me away from the kitchen and once again, just like yesterday, we ran outside. Suddenly he stopped, made me almost bump onto him and panted heavily.

"WHY. DIDN'T. YOU. TELL. US?!"

He started to walk from here to there, hitting himself (seemingly, it was his way of thinking) and finally stopped and ran away once again, but this time without me. And I stared after him. Weird guy.

I laughed and then realized that if I was not done cooking before 7:30, I would be dead.

Again, I ran, to the kitchen and thought that if this happened every day, it would be good for my health.

And – what a surprise (no sarcasm) – the one waiting for me in the kitchen actually was Mochu – With apron. I though it was funny and laughed out loud. He looked so weird. He, however, didn't think so and started to curse someone (I thought I heard Hotaru's name).

"He," Koko's voice sounded, "is going to help you."

"Mochu?" I asked him while pointing to Mochu. "He can cook?"

Koko smirked.

"Sure he can."

My jaw fell open and I looked at Mochu as if he had just killed someone.

"How did you…?"

"Hey, can you stop talking as if I'm just standing here for fun!" Mochu shouted.

"Bribing with pictures from Imai's pictures mall."

"Imai's pictures mall?"

"Yea, all made by that friend of yours."

To be honest, this was the first time Hotaru's pictures helped me.

"What kind of picture do you have then?"

"Oh, I have loads… One of Mo-"

"NO! Kokoroyomi! If you do that, I'll call your mother!" Mochu suddenly called, reaching in his pocket for his cell phone.

Koko trembled for a second, and then reached for Mochu's right hand, which was holding a cell phone. He, after some wrestling, held out a phone (Looking very expensive. If I were an owner of such a phone, I'd be dreaming) and then he threw it on the ground and jumped on it.

"KOKO! I HATE YOU!"

"Yes, I love you too." Koko said, as he patted off the dirt from his jeans. "So, are you still going to help? If not, Mochu-chan's photos will appear on internet!"

The words 'Never call my Mum' were carved on his forehead.

Mochu shot a death glare to him, and then, he turned back to me, shot me a death glare too and then started to get some ingredients out of the refrigerator. And again, he turned back to me.

"So, what can you cook?"

"Eh…"

"Soup?"

I shrieked.

"Omelet?"

"Erm..."

"A SANDWICH?!" He asked – erm, shouted – impatiently.

"Eh… no?" I cried, softly, while trying to hide behind Koko.

Mochu sighed. He breathed in and out. Then, he held out a kitchen knife.

"Okay." Said he. "I'll first teach you how to make an omelet, with bacon and – if you can't do it yourself – how to pour milk." He handed me some eggs.

.

Learning how to cook from Mochu was actually a lot more fun than I though it was. Mochu was in my eyes, some kind of spoilt brat who couldn't do anything himself at all. But I was wrong. He knows a lot of things about cooking and how to make dishes yummier.

.

It was 7:30. Everyone, except for Tsubasa, who was still sleeping in his comfortable bed, was sitting around the gigantic table.

I came walking with the dishes I prepared for Ruka-sama.

"_Don't be nervous."_ Koko's voice sounded in me. _"It's definitely delicious."_

Yes. He was right. Mochu and I did our best on it. If it was not yummy, I'd cry.

.

I looked at Ruka-sama, when I placed the dishes in front of him and then I smiled.

That was probably the only thing I could do to get myself calm, while I'm this close to Ruka-sama, for the first time.

He smiled back.

I went back to the kitchen, and got all the other dishes, the one for Hyuuga at last. On purpose, of course.

_Psst, a secret: The one for Hyuuga was full of his favorite food. Koko told me all Hyuuga's favorites. If I make everything he likes, I'd score points, even if he disliked me._

All was made with care. The one I prepared for Youichii, for example, was full of sweet things, since he liked them. I knew it.

The one for Tsubasa, who was still not here – I guess I'll go get him out of his bed soon – was filled with healthy food. It was full of vitamins.

Ruka-sama, a vegetarian, did not get any food related to any animals, like eggs or milk. I didn't even give him butter. I just gave him a lot of vegetables, with jus d'orange and a candy, as a thank-you sign for helping.

.

I am sure I did well.

.

I did not get to hear what they thought of the breakfast. They all hurried to school – their classes began earlier, but also ended earlier – and I suddenly remembered Tsubasa, who was still dreaming of candy in his bed. I hurried upside and pulled him out of his bed.

He too, headed to school, just like his friends, but not with a car, but on his bike with a piece of bread in his mouth and a pack of milk in his left hand.

Then I saw he was still wearing his pajamas.

Oh no, he'd get mad if he found out.

Slowly, he faded out of my sight. I turned back to the Hall and closed the door behind me.

I looked at the clock. I still had half an hour before classes started. The table was still full of dirty dishes the nine of them. If hurry, I'd be able to make it in time.

So, I washed the dishes, changed myself into my school uniform and hurried to school too.

.

At school, all kind of expressions were showing on student's faces when I passed by. Like ones full of pity, from the boys. But also ones full of jealousy, from NP (Nine Princes, indeed) fan-girls. Everyone knew it, it seemed.

Everyone knew I am the pitiful servant of the Nine Princes.

Why is the news spreading so fast…?

I wonder.

I entered the class room, shouted "Good morning!" once and searched my precious friends. And I found them running to me (Except for Hotaru, but let's ignore that fact).

"Mikan! We were so worried!"

"What happened to you?!"

Well, well, it seemed they missed me.

"Don't worry, I'm okay…" She said, "I guess."

"So…" Nonoko started, "Tell us!"

"Tell what?"

Nonoko and Anna laughed.

"EVERYTHING1"

.

So in the end, I found out both of them were NP fan-girls too.

.

Just when classes were about to start, my phone rang. Yes, I have a phone and no, it's not expensive.

"Hello, Mikan here."

"You. Damn, old hag." The voice on the other side said. "Come to us NOW!"

H- Hyuuga?

HYUUGA?

"How do you know my phone number?"

"I know everything about you! Just hurry up!"

"Bu-…"

Beep- Beep- Beep…

I hate him.

I look at the clock and see that classes are going to start within 5 minutes… If I run to their class, it'll take 5 minutes… Then they will keep me 5 to 10 minutes busy and then I have to run back… Er… Means I'm 20, no… 25 minutes too late…?

Maybe that's the reason why Jinno – my Maths teacher – doesn't like me. I'm good at any subject, except for Maths.

.

Anyway, should I go…?

.

Strangely, I went to their class. I had this feeling that if I didn't go, I'd probably regret it.

.

Opening the door, a scent of new leather entered my nose. I didn't like leather and wished I'd be able to leave this room soon. A supposed-to-be classroom was waiting for me. But it didn't look like a classroom at all. There were no tables and seats, but sofas and expensive tables, from which you'd think they were stolen from a museum.

But the scariest of them all were the students, who were all rich. You could see it in an instance by seeing their school uniforms. Compared to the simple school uniforms of the 'normal' (a.k.a. the poor) students, they were prettier and more expensive.

The students all looked pretty and wealthy. They all had this beautiful aura around them; one I would definitely never get. Especially the girls stood out with their beautiful and pretty faces.

Once I opened the door (decorated with wood carves), a few turned their face to me.

A few of them, still surrounded by fan-girls, were the Nine Princes. They had expected me of course.

Once he saw me, Natsume snapped his fingers and all students stood up and walked in my direction. For a split second, I thought they wanted to catch me, but they walked past me, some with a nasty look on their face. And so, the only ones left in the room were the NP and I.

"Hyuuga, what did that phone call mean?!" I yelled out. I want it to be over as fast as possible.

"This!" He said as he held out a pink, cute envelope, which was decorated with hearts and shapes reminding me from love. The decorations were drawn by me… the envelope was bought by me…

My eyes shot big.

"WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT?!" I said, pointing at the envelope. "THAT IS MY LOVE LETTER TO RU-," before I had knew it, I had already said his name… "Ka-… Sama…" I put my hand on my mouth, as if I was scared to say anything further. Not that I would anyway...

"If it is for Ruka…" Natsume said, very annoyed, "then why the heck was it placed in my locker?!"

"Y-Your locker…?"

.

_**T**__he truth is…_

"_Natsume, can I borrow your locker for a while? They are rebuilding the hall my locker is."_

"_Hn. As long as you don't dirty it, it's good." Someone said as he opened a locker._

"_Ah, thank you."_

_Who would have known that the mysterious person, who was planning throwing an envelope in the locker, didn't know who the real owner was of the locker?_

_**A**__ctually… This was the truth behind it…_

.

My mouth opened and closed the whole time. I couldn't help it. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't and didn't know exactly _what_ to say.

This time, I was in real trouble. I confessed to Ruka-sama in a way I didn't want to confess to him and meanwhile I had embarrassed myself…

.

_What now?_

* * *

**Yay! Another chapter completed!**

**Now I can hear you thinking why Wings-san updated so slow **_**AGAIN**_**? Well, she was just simply on vacation ;) And she hopes you forgive her because she wrote an extra long chapter this time.**

**The next Lucky Five chapter is in the make too! Wings-san has finally got an idea for it, so expect it soon!**

**Further, she has no comments to add, she just hopes you enjoyed this chapter and will wait for the next chapter with patience.**

**.**

**Secret.Wings**

**With honor to present you a new chapter, next time, again.**


	5. Chapter 5

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

_9 + 1 is 2_

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

* * *

_**T**his story is dedicated to _

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out - Plus scaring me off with clowns;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning_

And to you, for reading my story.

* * *

_**C**__hapter __**F**__ive**  
T**__he __**U**__nbelievable __**T**__est – __**P**__art 2_

* * *

_My mouth opened and closed the whole time. I couldn't help it. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't and didn't know exactly what to say._

_This time, I was in real trouble. I confessed to Ruka-sama in a way I didn't want to confess to him and meanwhile I had embarrassed myself…_

What now?

* * *

"I'm still _waiting_!" Natsume called out, but his words didn't reach my mind. The only who could appear in my thoughts was Ruka-sama… But he didn't think of me… Not in the way I was thinking of him… My evidence was the fact he didn't look at me. He was staring to his left, showing he was ignoring my look on purpose.

"I don't know how it came there…" I whispered, still loud enough for him to hear it. How Ruka reacted to my confession disappointed me. He didn't look at me… how cruel…

"Answer properly!"

Go die… Everyone should just disappear…

.

Anger. The feeling I was dealing with was anger. I've never felt this angry, before.

.

"NOGI RUKA! HYUUGA NATSUME!"

Everyone was shocked. They didn't seem to expect that one.

"You darn bastards, come with me now, or you can eat dog's food tonight for dinner!"

Ruka, who looked a bit pale, immediately stood up, as if he really thought he was going to eat it tonight. Hyuuga, however, was calm.

"God, shut up. The food you make is even WORSE than dog's food."

Ouch.

"What?!"

No, seriously, that really hurt me, maybe even Mochu. We did our best on it, and he responds like this?

"Okay then." I started. He was going way too far. "Then that means you won't get dinner!"

"What?" Natsume looked up from the book he was reading – He was holding it upside down – and looked almost panicking. "You hag, you WILL make me dinner, otherwise you can say farewell to that money!"

"Oh, I WON'T make your dinner. Try to make it yourself!"

.

.

Nope, our fighting will never, ever stop.

.

.

So, just as said, that evening, I really didn't make him dinner. He was acting cocky and didn't appear at the dining table, but stayed in his room, still saying that my food was not better than the food the dogs on the streets ate.

The bastard, I hate him.

"Sakura! Don't daze off!"

"I'm not dazing off, you cry baby!" I shouted to Youichii.

He was right, actually. I should not have dazed off while washing the dishes, but that chibi had a bad timing.

"Tch." And he left.

Someone had entered the room. I thought it was Koko, so I let my guard down…

But the one standing there was not Koko… it was Ruka. I was pretty much surprised. What was his answer to my confession? Yes…? No…

"Oh, it's you…" I turned back to the sink and continued washing the dishes. I don't want him to see my reaction when he tells me what he thinks.

"Erm… Sakura-san…"

"Yes?" If he wanted to say something, he should do it fast, otherwise I wouldn't be able to take anymore of it.

"I-I want-"

"Can you please hurry up?!" I couldn't take it anymore. Could he hurry up?

"I… I'm sure you already know what I want to tell, so… I wanted to say…" He took a deep breath. "Please go out with me!" He suddenly bowed, while I stood in front of him. The sentence he had shouted echoed in my mind

.

He wanted me to go out with him? He wanted me to date him… er, be his girlfriend? … Me? Really?

I was speechless. When he didn't look at me when I confessed to him… he really startled me and made me think he didn't like me back… But now it turned out he likes me too?

"God, I'm hungry… Eh…" Suddenly, the door opened and revealed a hungry-looking Natsume, with messy, raven hair and wearing his pyjama. His eyes, nearly closed, suddenly opened. "Oh." He muttered something and closed the door behind him, without saying anything, or making noise; he had completely understood what had happened between the two of us.

Natsume's sudden appear made my mind get more messy than it already was. Even though I was really planning on accepting Ruka, with just Natsume's appearance, I just couldn't help hesitating. Was I embarrassed, now that Natsume knew what was happening? Or was it because of something else? I wondered. I couldn't figure it out.

"Erm…" I started. "I… really have to think about that once again."

I could just read Ruka's mind, as if I had the same Alice like Koko. I could just hear him think _'But she confessed to me earlier… Why think about it then?' _I self didn't know either. I like him, so why should I think about it?

"I'm sorry." I bowed and walked to the door and opened it. When opening, Natsume, who, seemingly, had been waiting for us to finish, suddenly fell back, because he was leaning at the door; he had fallen asleep, in this short time.

Falling back didn't make him wake up. He was seriously tired and hungry… The poor thing. I bended over to him and shove away the bangs covering his closed eyes. Behind me, I could hear how Ruka left through the other door… but I didn't pay attention to him. The only one who could reach my mind now was…

Natsume.

I looked at how his arrogant face was looking so peaceful, how his hair was tickling my feet and how his large hands were now – accidentally – placed on mine.

Just this one time… I just couldn't get enough of him.

"What are you doing?" His eyes suddenly opened and his lips turned into a smirk. "Were you planning on doing dirty things with me?"

I was surprised. For that one moment, I really thought he was asleep, unknowing what I had been thinking of while staring at him.

He didn't wait for an answer, but opened his mouth again and started talking.

"I don't mind that, though." His hand suddenly moved away from my hand and reached out for my head that I had been bowing towards him all the time we were together. And what his hand did with my head was something I would never, ever be able to forget. His hand softly pulled my head towards his and I found my lips kissing his. Natsume's eyes were closed and I followed his example, though I actually didn't want it.

My heart thumped, I felt my knees weaken and my mind went even blanker than it already was.

_What exactly was he doing?_

His hand pulled harder and made my lips press more on his lips, as his tongue entered my mouth. It slowly explored my mouth and then it started to search for my tongue.

Our kiss didn't last long. Someone had entered the kitchen through the door Ruka had used to exit. I immediately removed my lips from Natsume's and turned back to see who had entered – and to see if he saw what had happened.

Unfortunately, the one who had entered the room was Koko, whose eyes were big of surprise.

"Hey Koko." Natsume stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist and his head leaned on my left shoulder. "Mikan is going to be my new girlfriend from now on."

* * *

**(A/N): Erm… well, I guess you all are waiting for some funny Author's Notes again or so… To be honest, I have none prepared. I'm currently all stressing, especially with a new start of school and the scanlations group and blah, blah, blah (Including damn witches called teachers)… And especially worrying that my co-administer at Alice Dreams is going to kill me, so… If you ever find this story un-updated, you'll know why.**

**Oh, and, the only thing I wanted to tell you is that I HATE to read stuff like 'UPDATE SOON, I'M DYING HERE!' because you aren't dying, I know that – No, I'm not that stupid, I can tell when you are dying and when not. And even if you're really dying - which I doubt - I still won't update soon. **

**Well… Guess that's it. Lucky Five is in the make, probably not coming out too soon, too bad enough.**

**.**

**Sorry for inconvenience, hope you have been having a good time reading.**

**.**

**Secret.Wings  
With honour to present you a new chapter, next time, again.**


	6. Chapter 6

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

**

* * *

**

9 and 1 is 2

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

_

* * *

_

_This story is dedicated to _

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out – And blackmailing;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning – And whose digits I still can't remember;_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**F**__ive**  
M**__erry __**C**__hristmas?_

_

* * *

_

_Our kiss didn't last long. Someone had entered the kitchen through the door Ruka had used to exit. I immediately removed my lips from Natsume's and turned back to see who had entered – and to see if he saw what had happened._

_Unfortunately, the one who had entered the room was Koko, whose eyes were big of surprise. _

"_Hey Koko." Natsume stood up and wrapped his arms around my waist and his head leaned on my left shoulder. "Mikan is going to be my new girlfriend from now on."_

_

* * *

_

His words echoed in my mind for more times, all in different volume.

"_Mikan is going to be my new girlfriend from now on."_

Just exactly **WHEN** did I become his girlfriend?

"Oh no! W-Wait! That's not true!"

He smirked as his arms started to wrap more tightly and his head started to dig a way through my hair to my neck. "Don't be so shy…"

"N-No…!"

.

In one split second, Natsume's lips had stopped and his arms had loosened. Koko stopped him, by pulling him away from me.

"You know, if a girl tells you to stop, you will really have to." Koko said, grinning. "Otherwise, even I won't be able to help you."

"Shut up."

Koko laughed.

"Well, I'm going to make my Geography homework… Maybe Yuu can help me." Koko walked to the fridge, opened it, grabbed something and closed it. Then, he left the room with milk. And so, the only ones left in the room were Natsume and I.

It was awkward, definitely. I felt embarrassed, a bit humiliated… maybe even ashamed. And Natsume knew that, I am sure about it.

"Natsume – …"

"Since when did 'Hyuuga' change to 'Natsume'?" He asked.

Well, that was a good question. I myself didn't know the answer to that question either. So… I just ignored it.

"- Do you want to eat something?"

"Don't ignore my question."

I sighed.

"The leftovers, I guess…" I mumbled as I opened the fridge.

"Damn." He left the room.

I smiled. Bingo! He finally left! I closed the door of the fridge and sat down.

I knew it. Becoming their servant really was going to be the thing I'd be regretting for the rest of my life. Within one week, I've been called an idiot at least fifty times, sexually harassed several times, and now, I'm even Natsu- I mean, Hyuuga's girlfriend. Being a slave, it sure is not an easy job.

Especially not when your boss is Hyuuga Natsume.

.

The next morning, after getting up, I directly went to wake Tsubasa up. The idiot.

"Sheesh. Leave me alone. Lemme sleep!" He hid himself under his blanket.

I sighed. "I can't. If you come too late today, you'll have to get even earlier tomorrow." He still didn't move. "And above all, I've got a yummy breakfast for you."

"Don't lie. Your breakfasts are absolutely everything but yummy."

_Why exactly are all these so-called 'Princes' so darn cocky?_

"You. If you ever repeat that again, I'll make sure you won't be able to hug your skateboard ever again." I said. He's pissing me off! "And now, get the hell out of that bed or I'll burn it."

"You can't burn it. Only Natsume-san can."

"I can't?" I said, on a dangerous tone.

"Alright." He got out of bed. "You're even worse than my Mum." He silently muttered.

"Glad to hear that." And 'Boom!' I slammed the door of his room with all my might.

"Sa- Sakura-san…" A door opened and Ruka stepped out of his room. He looked a bit tired and his eyebrows were twitching. "G- Good morning."

"A- AH!" I realized that my loud voice and slamming had probably woken him up. "I'm so sorry!"

"God, I can't eat normally anymore, can't randomly touch whatever I want to touch and now I can't even _sleep_ normally?" Next to Ruka, Natsume suddenly appeared. Sheesh, they all suddenly appear out of nothing, but greeting you normally? Nuh-uh. "What next? Not allowed to go to the toilet normally?"

"Oh. Haha. How funny, you are."

"Tch. You learn how to cook before telling others off."

_Why are they all aiming at my cooking?!_

I stamped to his side and dragged him along with me to the kitchen, downstairs. There, I hold out a knife for him: "Here, for you. Cook. If you can do it better. I'll stand here and laugh at you. Feeling better?"

"Sure, but I want to go to the toilet first." And he left. Now, that was something I didn't really saw coming.

.

So, this morning, we all ate Natsume's homemade breakfast, with fresh eggs, milk and bacon. A typical English breakfast. And everyone enjoyed it, except for me. Sure, I did enjoy the breakfast, but my appetite kind of lessened once I thought about the one who cooked it, the breakfast.

"Slave, time to clean up."

I glared at Hyuuga, but at that moment, the phone started to ring.

"Go get it."

I sulked and shivered. At this kind of moments, when he said things like 'Go do this' and 'Go do that', it'd be better that you listened, or you've got to deal with the consequences. So, there I went to the phone, but didn't know that this phone-call was going to get me some small problems.

"Hello? Princes' Residence." I was told to say this when picking up the phone.

"O- Oh…" The voice on the other side brought out.

"H- Hello?"

"Ah… So you're the new servant."

"A- What?"

"My apologizes for being so rude. I'm Mr. Hyuuga, Natsume's father."

_N- Natsume's father?_

"Oh… Nice to meet you, Mr. Hyuuga. My name is Sakura Mikan."

'_The new servant?' No wonder why Natsume is acting so spoilt now._

"Sakura-san, could you please tell Natsume that I'll be coming here on the 24th?" He asked, a bit hastily.

"Sure."

"Thanks."

_Beep- Beep- Beep-_

_The Hyuuga-family? It's absolutely not your usual family._

I put the telephone back and went to the kitchen, where, surprisingly, Natsume was doing the dishes.

"Sheesh, took you long enough." He muttered as he tried to get dirt off one of the dishes.

"Ah, your father wants to get here the 24th." A weird noise followed. The dish he was holding fell and he fell too.

"He _what_?!"

"He said that he's coming here on the 24th."

He looked at me as if he didn't understand a word of what I said – As if I was talking Chinese or so!

"If this is a joke, then I'll tell you, it's not funny."

"It's not a joke! I swear!"

He glared at me.

.

Urgh, life gets so easily complicated, these days, doesn't it?

.

As the days passed, the weather got worse too. While four months ago, the weather was still content and could be called 'pretty warm'; the weather now was cold. Snowflakes would fall secretly at night. As at mornings, the day would start with a cold, freezing wind, blowing into your neck, making you shiver. Yes, December had come, at last. The 24th came near.

On the 24th, I had been making the Palace look clean. At morning, after waking up at 5 o'clock am, dressing up, showering, I had to get the Christmas tree these princes ordered. Thus, I went to the bus stop, went to Central Town and got to this Christmas trees-shop called 'Christmas Fun'. As I entered the shop, a small 'cling cling' followed. It was a tiny little bell that was just hanging above the door I had opened. A cozy, warm room had been waiting for me. I looked around. It was a small shop, which made you wonder if it really was a Christmas trees shop.

"Ah, welcome, young lady." A man opened a door on the other side of the room.

"Hello Sir. I'm Sakura Mikan." I began. "I'm here to get Natsume Hyuuga's Christmas tree." As he heard this, his eyes started to widen.

"Ah? You are here to get Hyuuga-bocchama's tree?" He scratched the back of his neck. "Hmm…" He observed me closely. "Alright! Please wait here. I'll get the tree." He walked back to his door, but suddenly stopped. "I think it might be better if you go with me. The tree is rather… Heavy."

.

One hour later, I came back home, furious, angry and insane – or well… yeah, insane. Of course I was cursing _someone_, who made me, a girl of 1.50 meters tall, carry a huge Christmas tree – complete with decorations, making it even harder to carry – of 3 meters all way from Central Town to this insanely huge Palace.

Who the hell would be mean enough to make me carry such a thing for one hour long? Of course, there was only one person who could be daring enough to do that. And now, just hope that he's still sleeping…

"_**HYUUGA NATSUME! GET DOWN IMMEDIATELY!**_"

I heard one of them moan; Tsubasa probably thought that he might be able to sleep late because it was vacation. Mochu shouted: "Damn old hag! Keep quiet!" and Koko started laughing.

Nope. My life can't get worse than it already is.

At least, that was what I thought when I saw all the nine princes come down from the large stairs. Some of them looked really innocent. Not that I expected them to look different. On the other hand, some were looking amused, maybe even a bit devilish.

At the same moment, a loud 'ding dong!' was heard and it echoed through the Grand Palace.

"_Crap_!" Natsume ran back to his room.

"Ah!" Youichii, for the first time I saw him like this, ran to the door, in a cute way and opened the door with a bow and a smile.

As everyone expected, Mr. Hyuuga was waiting there.

I looked at the man who was standing there. He didn't look like Natsume at all. Better said, he looked friendlier and nicer. One similarity was obvious: Both were handsome, evenly.

The eight princes bowed. The King slowly entered the Grand Hall, as he patted Youichii and smiled. Then, he looked at me. My eyes widened. Yes. The King, he was no normal person. Even though he sounded so weird in the phone-call, he looked incredibly handsome and cool here. Exactly the type of person you'd expect to be rich, yet not spoilt.

"Hm…" He looked around. "Andou-kun." He sounded rather angry. Was he angry that Tsubasa looked like he didn't shower or brushed his teeth yet? "Nice pyjamas."

Even though I promised myself to not over-react today, to try to impress the King and to try to get more paid by impressing him, but how the King had surprised me… It made my jaw drop, right after hearing his not-so wise words. Thank God he didn't see my 'little mistake'.

"Hijiri-kun, as small as always, I see. Of course, as cute too. You remind me of Natsume." He looked around again. "Speaking of the devil, where is he?" And directly, he turned back to me. Why me?

"Eh… I think Natsume-sama…" I gulped. Unbelievable that I really said that. "Is busy reading a book…? Please excuse me. I'll go get him."

I silently knocked on his door. This was going to be my first time entering his room.

"Go away."

"Your Dad's here."

"Go away."

…

"_JUST GO TO YOUR DAD, DAMMIT!"_

"Alright, alright." He opened his door and sulked. "Tch, sticking your nose in others' business. Watch out or you won't be able to get a boyfriend."

"Huh… Weren't you the one who said that I'm your girlfriend?"

He glared and went down the stairs. I could hear happy cheer from Natsume's father.

Yes, this was going to be a nice Christmas.

.

The evening passed quickly. Natsume's father being nice, didn't let me cook, but took us to a restaurant, where we enjoyed eating French dishes and I didn't have to cook it, clean it away, doing the wash-up, but just enjoy. This Christmas was going to be great. I could feel it.

.

Next morning, an unexpected call came.

I took the phone.

"Hello. Princes' Residence."

"Mikan-chan? Can I have Natsume?" He sounded different than yesterday… A bit… panicked?

"S- Sure…"

I put down the phone on the table and called Natsume: "NATSUME! Your Dad wants to talk with you!"

I heard him mutter and curse as he slowly ascended from the stairs. He glared at me. I could feel that he just wanted to shout out "You damn old hag, cut the crap already!" But Natsume wouldn't be Natsume if he just kept his cool. He took the phone.

But within a minute, his expression was not cool anymore. He looked stressed and panicked, just like what I imagined his father looked like when I heard his voice through the phone.

Natsume's hands gave up; the phone fell on the ground. Natsume himself was shivering.

"N- Natsume?" I got the phone. _Beep- Beep- Beep-_ I looked at Natsume.

.

"Our company…"

His eyes widened.

"Our company went bankrupt."

.

I had this feeling that Christmas was going to be great, this year.

But… seemingly, my sixth sense is not as accurate as I thought it was.

* * *

**(A/N): Whew, took me some while, didn't it? … O.O –Feels glares shot at her– Ahaha…? **_Please don't kill me..._

**Rawr. This is very probably going to be my last update this year. I hope you all enjoyed it so far! See you next year and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all. **

**And eh…**

**Hope that I'll survive next year… - Fears scary people like Nade-Hime –**

**.**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!**


	7. Chapter 7

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

9 and 1 is 2

* * *

_Once upon a time…_

_

* * *

_

_This story is dedicated to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the one who has been supporting me with everything I did and made me laugh day in day out – And blackmailing;_

_Chris, who has been supporting my two stories since the very beginning – And whose digits I still can't remember;_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**S**__ix**  
A**__nnoyances_

_

* * *

  
_

_But within a minute, his expression was not cool anymore. He looked stressed and panicked, just like what I imagined his father looked like when I heard his voice through the phone._

_Natsume's hands gave up; the phone fell on the ground. Natsume himself was shivering._

"_N- Natsume?" I got the phone. Beep- Beep- Beep- I looked at Natsume._

_._

"_Our company…"_

_His eyes widened._

"_Our company went bankrupt."_

_

* * *

_

"H- Huh?" I blinked with my eyes. What did he just say? The Hyuuga Company went bankrupt?

"OH!" Thinking about it made me feel stupid. How could the Hyuuga Company ever be bankrupt? Haha! The Hyuuga Company going bankrupt is just like that Jinno being nice to me, they are both just impossible!

"Ahahahaha!" I laughed. "Natsume, for a minute, I thought you were serious, but of course, you're joking!" I laughed even more.

Natsume gritted his teeth.

"Shut up, Sakura."

His voice sounded cold, distant and cruel. While he declared me as his girlfriend with a grin, four weeks ago, with a big grin on his face, he was now being distant and there would be no way the same grin would appear on his face now. Using just three, simple words, he could get me quite shocked. He didn't shout the words, nor did he say them in a very special way, yet they just hurt and I didn't know why. It wasn't really the purpose to make him angry or sad. I really thought that he was just joking.

He glared at me. That glare was a true glare, with pure hate.

"You're not in any position to laugh."

"Natsume!" I pulled his left arm. "I'm sorry."

"Leave me alone." He slapped my hands away and wanted to leave. I wanted to make up with him and say that I was sorry, but Koko stopped me.

"Just stop already." He said. "When Natsume says that he wants to be alone, he'll have to be left alone, otherwise…" He looked at the back of Natsume while leaving. "Bad things will happen."

I looked confused and worried at Koko.

"Come." He said. "Let's let him cool off a bit." And he pulled me along with him, to the living room of the Palace, as my thoughts wandered around, being one strange, fuzzy collection of words I never heard of. It was all just unreasonable.

But as I entered the room, I realised that I never really paid attention to the living room. Mainly because it was rather simple, compared to the other, uncountable rooms in the Palace. The walls were brown, the lamps were just the same as in other rooms, but a bit smaller and in the corners of the room were some soft, comfy-looking sofas. All the seven other Princes were sitting on a couch.

It seemed the seven of them had heard what happened to Natsume and gathered quickly.

"-But it's impossible." I heard Tsubasa say. "The Hyuuga Company can't go bankrupt within one day."

"Agreed." Ruka said. "It was still safe and secured yesterday."

Yuu took a deep breath.

"I think…" He said, as he browses through today's newspaper. "This will give us an answer." He pointed to an article at the second page of the newspaper.

He read it out loud: "Hyuuga Corporation Bankrupt. Early Christmas morning, the leader of the Hyuuga Corporation, also known as Hyuu-"

"Argh." I couldn't take it. How could I listen to an article, telling how Natsume's nice and wonderful Dad had lost all his property? How could I listen to an article, telling about Natsume having big, big troubles?

And so, I just left the room, ran to Natsume's room and knocked on his door one time, not waiting for him to respond to it and just slammed the door open.

"Natsume, _listen!_" I yelled. I looked at him, lying on his bed, staring blankly to wherever-he-wants-to-stare-at.

"Oh." Was that a yes or a no?

I entered the room.

"I'm sorry."

He turned his head a little bit towards me.

"Oh."

"You're getting on my nerves."

He got up, but didn't say anything. I sat on his bed, thinking it would be save to do so.

"Mikan." I shivered a bit. That sounded somewhat weird.

"Hm?"

"What am I supposed to do now?" He turned his back to me, probably afraid to show his face, or trying to hide something. "I lost everything." And I, actually, didn't really want to know what he was hiding.

I thought about it, but couldn't answer the question. The reason why I couldn't was obvious. "I'm born in a poor family." I stood up and stood in front of him. "Our family has no possessions to lose."

"I see."

"Of course you don't." I laughed. "Idiot."

He smirked. It's a miracle; he smirked! "Who are you calling an idiot?"

"A loser called Natsume who just stresses about worthless stuff."

He didn't answer.

"Oh, by the way, I want to cook a nice Christmas dinner for you guys tonight."

"Ugh, another dinner filled with poison."

"You can cook for us too, if you want." I raised my right eyebrow.

"You wish."

"Ah well, that'll be spaghetti with tomato sauce and some poison for Sir Hyuuga, then?"

He didn't listen. Actually, he seemed tired and yawned. I left the room, and closed the door behind me.

Sleep well…

I went downstairs. I was a bit curious how it was going with the other Princes. After the short talk with Natsume, it felt as if a burden lessened from my shoulders, as if something heavy that I had been carrying some while has finally been released from me. It was very refreshing and a nice feeling.

I entered the living room. They were all sitting and didn't say anything to each other, nor did they look at each other. They fought?

"What's wrong here?"

Their mouths shut, all glaring at each other. Yes, it's a fight.

I rested my eyes on Ruka. He, too, didn't seem too happy.

"It seems that the King already knew that the corporation would go bankrupt yesterday." Koko said.

I raised my right eyebrow.

"How could that be?"

"We don't know. The only thing we know is that before the company went bankrupt, he sold everything to the Koyama Corporation."

"Koyama Corporation?"

"Yeah," Koko started to look even more depressed. "The heir of the company is called Koyama Ryou. He was an old friend of Natsume back then."

"But they ended up in a fight when the Koyama Corporation started to get into some money troubles." Ruka added. The King was willing to donate some money to Ryou's dad. But Ryou himself didn't seem to like to be dependant of his friend."

"His own pride was more important than friendship. So he threw his friendship with Natsume away."

"I never really liked that Koyama guy anyway." Mochu muttered as he leaned back to his sofa. "He was always so perfectionistic. He really got on my nerves, that guy."

"_Koyama_?" From behind me, a sharp voice sounded. Natsume didn't sleep. He was clearly awake and shocked by hearing that name. His eyes were wide open, revealing his crimson orbs that didn't show any beautiful sparkles like they usually did. He suddenly turned around with a lot of noise and ran through the Grand Hall to the door. He had felt that someone was waiting for him, over there.

And strangely, he was right. The big door was open and revealed the silhouette of someone I had never seen before, but would change a lot of everyone's lives, including Natsume's and mine.

.

_Koyama Ryouji had arrived. And he was not going to bring good news with him._

_

* * *

_

**(A/N): :3 Cliff-hangers, oh, cliff-hangers… I love them so much. :x Though I don't know about you guys?**

**It took me 40 days to update. :o That's pretty fast, for me, that is. I'm not very satisfied with this chapter, somehow. I re-read it about 2 times and don't know why I think it's kind of got a 'mehhh'-feeling. Rawr.**

**Hope you guys don't get too cross with me about this. :x**

**BTW, I think I'll include Mikan's answer to Ruka's confession in the next chapter. Please make sure to read it, I'm going to cut the crap with the serious stuff in that one. x3**

**- SW**

**.  
**

**PS: Thanks everyone for nominating me in the GARC 2008. It's a real honor. Really, thank you. :3  
**


	8. Chapter 8

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**

9 + 1 is 2

* * *

"_Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be.__"  
-- Princess Diana_

_

* * *

_

_A **big **thanks to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the best online friend you can wish, for the most humoristic lines you can ever think of, causing one to find the huge source of inspiration once again,_

_Chris, the best reader you can't even dream of – and whose digits I still haven't managed to remember,_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**E**__ight_

_**A**__bout __**S**__urprises and __**L**__etters_

_

* * *

_

"_Koyama?" From behind me, a sharp voice sounded. Natsume didn't sleep. He was clearly awake and shocked by hearing that name. His eyes were wide open, revealing his crimson orbs that didn't show any beautiful sparkles like they usually did. He suddenly turned around with a lot of noise and ran through the Grand Hall to the door. He had felt that someone was waiting for him, over there._

_And strangely, he was right. The big door was open and revealed the silhouette of someone I had never seen before, but would change a lot of everyone's lives, including Natsume's and mine._

He looked like an angel, really. Koyama Ryouji was handsome and absolutely beautiful, with no doubt. However, the thing was that he gave off a very scary, ominous aura, causing me to have the feeling that he was absolutely a villain, someone who had no good intentions for coming here. He must've got some bad plans-…

"Is that Mikan-chan?!" He suddenly screamed. He let go of the suitcase he was holding with his right hand and it landed with a loud, threatening sound on the foot of the bodyguard who'd just arrived next to him, while Koyama himself ran with wide, open arms in my way, ready to… hug me? "She's so cute!"

"Oh, no way. First answer us and then you may hug Mikan." Tsubasa said as he stepped to the left and stopped Koyama by pulling him by his brown coat with his right hand.

"Eh? No touchie?"

It could've been my imagination. Mikan, WAKE UP. You're probably still sleeping!

Didn't Mochu say that Koyama Ryouji was an absolutely mighty guy, who owned a complete own business with lots of high-class hotels and other buildings? How could such an important person say words like _touchie_?

"No touchie before explaining us why you've come back." Tsubasa looked at him with a strict and serious look. I'd never seen him talk and look like that. Everything was so strange, all of a sudden. What was happening?

"It's not like we need to treat you like a little kid anymore anyway, right, Koyama?" Koko grinned. "You've changed after all. Posture, way of talking… The look in your eyes. Your way of thinking also, of course."

Koyama chuckled a bit as he scratched his head.

"It surprises me how well all of you know me even after I betrayed you."

That sentence seemed to kill the atmosphere. No one was able to say anything and all the most people could do was to watch how Natsume's emotions seemed to explode, as he got deeper and deeper sunk into his thoughts. I could read from his facial expression that even Koko didn't even want to _try_ reading his mind.

To betray. To be false or disloyal to. Koyama had once betrayed the nine of them.

"Oh?" Koyama suddenly spoke, as if he'd read my mind. "Do you want to know what happened?"

My eyes widened in surprise. His guess was shockingly accurate to what I was thinking.

For a second, he raised his right eyebrow with a slightly amused expression on his face. Then, all of a sudden, he yawned. It pissed me off, a bit.

"Eugh, you're so boring. I don't feel like telling you the whole story. It isn't like you're really related to it to begin with. I guess you won't last for one month max as their 'maid'."

He was so annoying. His words got stuck into my mind and didn't want to go away, while they repeated themselves over and over again. It was vexing, even though the reason was unknown. It wasn't like I really wanted to stay in this Palace. Hyuuga Natsume was too much of a nightmare.

But when I tried to say something back, the words got stuck in my throat and never found the exit.

Koyama Ryouji was not just someone who I thought he was. I got that during our first meeting.

-

The first half of the next week was easy to endure.

Natsume had been closing himself from everyone else at home, saying he was busy with what was happening. 'What was happening' was pointing to the fact his father's company going bankrupt. The thing, though, was that Natsume's position as no. 1 prince was still unaffected even after this huge loss. As it seemed, girls still liked him, even if he lost his money, as well as the school still gave him the highest allowance in the whole academy with an incredible amount of a thousand bunnies a week.

Anyway, as mean as it may sound, I didn't have to suffer from his annoying behaviour, at least.

The problem, however, was Ruka.

It was obvious that he had become rather impatient of waiting and both Nonoko and Anna kept on reminding me of it as well. It was just too hard to think of an answer.

Of course I really liked him and I did want to date him, back for a while.

"Mikan." Nonoko said, again with that same tone she'd been using the past few days. I sighed.

"I know. I _know_."

Anna raised her right eyebrow at my response.

We were standing in Central Town's decorated square. The shining, white trimmings were eye-catching and seemed to fit the idea of winter and New Year, yet I just couldn't help but to feel somewhat depressed whenever I thought of New Year, strangely.

"Why don't you just directly say yes?" Anna said as she sat down on a small empty bench. Hotaru followed her example and started staring at the big Christmas tree, which was still not taken away. "You were still yelling things about him all the time two months ago. What's gone into you?"

"I will." I said. It was no lie. I will do so. Someday.

-

"_Mikan, you sure you really like him?_"

-

Okay, so now I'll have to explain why exactly I thought this was a strange question. Maybe it wasn't particularly the question itself that was strange. It was more like… the fact it had to be _this_ person to ask this question that was strange.

Hotaru wasn't really the type of person to stick her nose into other people's business, especially not when she was not asked to and especially, especially not when it was about _love_. Hotaru being Hotaru after all, had to deal with enough fuzziness about flying cows and barking horses filling her immensely massive brains that she couldn't even be bothered about other people's love business.

Not that she herself would love someone from the other gender to begin with anyway.

Wow. Time out.

That sounds _really_ wrong.

Correction, not that she herself would love someone in that kind of way to begin with anyway.

Lots better. Time in.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, showing I was surprised on purpose, just to make sure she'd get that I didn't understand her 'second meaning' behind that question.

"I mean that I have this vague impression that you only want to be his girlfriend because Ruka's ranked second, thus the second richest of all."

I blinked with my eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"That you _might_ be interested in his money."

Was it really strange of me that I ran away at the moment an old man, dressed up as ol' Santa with the ugliest beard I've ever seen passed by and interrupted us by nearly smacking Anna to the ground with his half-dead reindeer? Was it strange?

Hotaru was stating I liked Ruka because of his money.

But that wouldn't be logical, because Natsume is the richest.

Wait, that's not right. He isn't anymore.

So that makes Ruka the richest of all after all.

But Koyama got to own the Hyuuga Corporation, right? That makes him the richest then.

Then again, I just got to know Koyama, so it still wouldn't make sense.

"Yo. Mikan?"

Then why does Hotaru think I like Ruka because of his money? She should be the one who understands me the most!

"Mikan?"

Something's wrong with her. It must be. No way in hell would she suspect me of something like that.

"MIKAN!"

"WHAT?!" I turned back to face a panting Koko, bowing forward with his hands leaning on upper legs, completely worn out. He was grunting words I don't want to repeat, but anyway, he seemed troubled, angry and frustrated.

"You ran over a damn dog, you _moron_!" He looked annoyed. His hair was messed up and so were his clothes. He was sweating slightly and probably had untied his scarf because of that. I looked into his shiny brown eyes while he still heavily panted, but this time standing up straight.

"_What_?" I swear, this time I didn't really mean to sound stupid or anything like that. No way. Ever since Koyama moved in, I'd decided to become a bit more intelligent, or at least, make that kind of impression on the nine – no, ten of them.

"You traumatized a dog with your train-speeded running!" Koko said, still panting slightly. "If Mochu weren't there you'd smacked it into…" He didn't complete his line.

"Oh. Wow."

"What the hell were you thinking?" Koko started to look around and saw the crowd around the two of us, shocked by what they'd just heard. Then his eyes suddenly fixated themselves on the window of a shop. No, he was looking at what was happening inside a restaurant.

I could've been hallucinating when I followed his gaze or having some kind of weird blackout, but I could swear _I saw Natsume there_, wearing a waiter's costume.

"Koko, RUN!"

All of a sudden, Mochu appeared from the right (Koko's left) and ran past the two of us as fast as he could.

"What's wrong?!" Koko asked, still not getting the complicated situation.

"That dog's owner-"

And soon, an old, somewhat chubby woman ran past as well, swinging around with a white Gucci handbag in her right hand and holding a tiny Chihuahua in the other.

"MOCHIAGE, I TOLD YOU! MY PEPE-CHAN IS NOT TO BE LIFTED UP BY YOUR PSYCHO WACKO POWERS JUST BECAUSE YOU FEEL LIKE DOING THAT!"

-

But what if I really liked Ruka because he was rich?

-

The woman followed us all the way to the Palace and turned out to be Mochu's aunt. It was hard to get her calm and satisfied out of the Palace since she demanded for a sincere apology from her cousin, who cockily refused to, since he was the one who saved the Chihuahua.

When she'd finally left, with a big grin on her face, thanks to Koyama, I asked him what exactly he did to make her calm down to which his reply was a only big, scary smirk on his face as he returned to his room, while whistling 'Rudolph the red nosed reindeer'.

"Ah." Youichii said, as he stood in the door opening leading to the lounge. He was holding an orange envelope. Bingo. "_Hag_, there's a letter for you."

"Oh, thank you."

"No problem, _hag_."

I nodded as I took the envelope from him and walked back to my room, while I clearly could hear Youichii mutter something to Mochu, to which the latter could only reply with a dry laugh.

The only thing I could pay attention to that moment was the light-coloured notepaper with the fancy, curly handwriting I'd be able to recognize out of thousands and not You-chan's _colourful _language – I'll blame Natsume for that around dinner.

_Dear Mikan,_

Feelings of nostalgia flushed through my mind as I just read the first line only. The way of mum saying my name was something I only had a vague memory of now.

_Sorry for being so late with sending you a card for Christmas. I sent it along with this letter in the envelope, since I still wanted to write you a lot more than only 'Merry Christmas'. _

I took out the card from the envelope as I closed my door behind me and looked at it, but as soon as I saw it, I put it back and desperately wished that the green thing on it was not supposed to be the house elf from the Harry Potter movies but just a normal Christmas tree. Very desperately.

_I picked the same card for Jii-chan. Do you think he'll like it?_

I gulped and remembered the trash bin Jii-chan had especially bought to throw my mum's cards in ("I tell you, it's not a trash bin! It's a special… box to cherish her absolutely _lovely_ cards."). IGNORE, IGNORE and just continue. I took place on my small, but still very comfy bed.

_The flower shop hasn't been doing too well lately. The amount of customers has lessened, but Shiki has been taking good care of me and lets me play piano in his café to earn some money. Don't you think that's nice? Anyway, despite the slight pinch with finances, I'm doing well, still have food to eat and still enjoying life._

_But how have you been? I noticed your amount of letters has decreased over the past month. Is something wrong? Have you been a bother to Hotaru-chan?_

IGNORE, IGNORE and continue. QUICK!

_I'm so sorry for not being able to send you a present this year. Is that why you don't write as many letters as before anymore? Or is it… a boyfriend? If it is a boyfriend, can you tell me what his name is? Please? Oh, oh, also, please describe his personality and maybe a photograph would do? Pretty please?_

Wow, mum. That's a very colourful fantasy you have there. Nice try.

_Remember, Mikan, I may have entrusted you to the academy, but that doesn't make you free to sneak in and out of your own dorm to the boys' dorm, got it? No overnight trips. Absolutely not._

_Merry Christmas, Mikan. You know how much I'd wished I were there with you and could have celebrated it together with you (and your boyfriend). I hope you're doing well. And I also hope your happy. If you're not happy, I'll send a letter to Naru and skin him the next time I see him. Perhaps I'll burn the skin too?_

Remember kids; don't try this at home with your sisters or brothers.

_This is it. I hope you're enjoying yourself right now. Please send me a letter back as soon as possible. And if not, I'll send you one over a few days again._

_Love,_

_Mum_

-

"Heh. So your mum runs a flower shop." A voice from behind said. Suddenly someone's head popped out above my right shoulder and his eyes read the letter. I could feel his soft breathing in my neck. "You know, if you want to act like a proper _lady_ for Ruka, you shouldn't make such animated movements while reading a simple letter. Makes you look even more stupid than you already do."

"Natsume! What are you doing here?!" I folded the letter back to how it was and put it back into the envelope as I glared at him. He lied back and closed his eyes. Suddenly I realized something. "And how did you come back from that restaurant that quickly?!"

Suddenly he opened his eyes again, as if he had been waiting for me to ask that question and he glared at me. "So you _did_ see me."

I looked into his crimson eyes and gulped at what I saw; he was really angry. If I'd lie here, I'd get killed off.

"Y- Yeah, I did."

He responded by lying back down again and sighing. A moment of silence followed. What was he thinking now? Ways of killing me, perhaps? Hanging, most preferably. It seemed the best option for him in order not to dirty his own hands with blood. Or anything like that.

Shiver.

"Oh, come on! It wasn't that bad!" I nearly yelled when he kept on glaring at me after some time. "I mean, girls like it when guys wear uniforms."

"Is that a confession?" He said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.

This was an utterly idiotic question. It was idiotic enough to get me have a blackout, at least. Strangely, his words kept on echoing in my mind

"If it is, then I accept it," he said and not a second later, he closed the door behind him with a soft thud and left. After that, when I came back to my senses, realized that Natsume had done it once again, I freaked out. I yelled, smacked with my pillow on the bed and jumped. I started punching the teddy bear on my bed, threw it on the ground and was about to jump on it when the door of my room opened.

_Why did Koyama just have to come in at that moment?_

The second I noticed the door had opened, I stopped jumping, hid the pillow behind me as I smiled as sweetly as I could. He responded with a grin on his smile while closing his eyes, as if he was about to burst out in loud, loud laughter. However, Koyama being Koyama after all, I'd noticed, he didn't give a kick in the end and just announced innocently: "We're going on a trip tomorrow. Just Natsume, Koko, Ruka, you and I."

* * *

**(A/N)**: I need to rush this Author's Note since my mother has been kind of impatient today and wants me to go sleep soon (honestly, I want so too!). So tired. Anyway, hopefully you enjoyed reading it. Hopefully. I know it really wasn't worth the long wait and I'm sincerely sorry for it turning out to be so... dry. I hope you understand my situation right now. I was stupid enough to join another scans team, but I swear, I'm trying to establish a new kind of time schedule for myself. Thus far it's been working okay. So, I'll try. I'll try to update sooner next time.

Right now I'm working on a third fanfic as well, called _Operation ALiCE_. Those who are expecting a fluffy, cutesy-cutesy fanfic, well, sorry to disappoint you. This one is an adventure/mystery/action/romance one. So, if anyone has been enjoying shounen manga/anime a lot lately (like me?), please do read.

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments and constructive critisism. I take them to heart. Seriously. Thank you.

~ SW  
Desperate (XD) to present you with a new chapter again, next time.


	9. Chapter 9

**- - Nine Princes, One Princess - -**  
9 + 1 is 2

* * *

"_Every time I play this piece and close my eyes, it suddenly feels like he is standing next to me. On that moment, I think I really reached that what they call happiness.__"_

_

* * *

_

_A big thanks to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the best online friend you can wish, for the most humorous lines you can ever think of, causing one to find the huge source of inspiration once again,_

_Chris, the best reader you can't even dream of – and whose digits I still haven't managed to remember,_

_And to you, for reading my story._

_

* * *

_

_**C**__hapter __**N**__ine  
**E**__xploring __**C**__hina_

_

* * *

_

"Aah, aah. Mikan-chan is having a blackout again." Koyama's voice sounded. A vague object that had been going up and down in front of my eyes that I could only identify to be his hand finally stopped attempting to get my attention. "Anyway, You-chan, no colourful rainbow words while we're gone. Tsu-chan, no skateboarding in here. Kitsuneme, don't cry. Koko will only be gone for a few days."

"Ryou, I'm not crying."

"Don't worry, it's just a few days."

"Ryou, I'm not crying."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. At least let me make everything a bit dramatic, okay? You guys are so boring-"

"Koyama!" Koko screamed, impatiently. He had been sitting in the car all the time that Koyama had been acting like some desperate housewife.

"Now, let's go, Mikan-chan."

Unconsciously, I followed Koyama to the car outside. Or more like, he pulled me to it, I think. I couldn't remember anymore. Behind me, I could hear a few of the Princes whisper things and You-chan followed me for a little bit, while poking me – which would have been adorable if I'd paid attention to it – but then gave up, concluding that 'Mikan-chan had finally gone nuts till an extent of not being able to feel, speak, talk or see properly anymore.' Were these even words that a twelve-years-old should use?

Now, he wasn't exactly wrong concluding this. I was indeed going nuts. In my mind, that is. It was just wrong for a girl of my age to go on a holiday with three guys, with no other girls. That was just so wrong. Oh God, please, be a bit forgiving and tell me this holiday will be falling apart because of snow or something. There was enough ice everywhere to make the car go boom against a tree or something.

"Mikan-chan, you've been making funny faces. Are you feeling alright?" Ruka asked from beside me. I didn't even notice we were already sitting in the car. I tried to make myself comfortable on the seat, but sitting next to Ruka was just too awkward for me at the moment. In the end, I only managed to make some stiff movements, making me seem like a clumsy moron. I hate myself at times like this. Nervously, I tried to manage a smile on my face as I looked at him.

"I'm fine, thank you."

I saw how Koko was sitting in front of me, in the right seat. It seemed he found some enjoyment in playing around with a pen he probably found somewhere. Next to him, Koyama sat, looking into the mirror with an amused expression on his face, as he then looked away when he saw me looking at him.

Lastly, there was Natsume, who'd been silent all the time. He looked somewhat tired, since there were vaguely traces of bags underneath his eyes to be found. He was sitting on the left side of Ruka and looked out of the window, looking into the big front garden of the Palace. His eyes didn't seem to be paying attention to anything of it though.

I rested my right arm on the handrail next to me and leaned with my head on the palm of my hand. My hand was sweaty, which was strange, since it was still winter. It was cold and actually still freezing outside. The snow from the day before was still lying like fresh on the ground, untouched. No one had left the Palace ever since the snow had started falling.

December, huh?

Which reminded me, my birthday was coming up in a few days. Actually, it was coming up in three days. I'd totally forgotten about it. Too many things had kept my mind busy. It was nearly impossible for me to have thought about it.

I noticed there was an awkward silence going on in the car as Koyama drove away from the Palace's gate, into a familiar road that would lead to the Academy, as to the big gate of the academy, which would lead us to Tokyo. We went to Tokyo. I looked around in the car and realized the uncomfortable silence was mainly coming from the left part of the car, where Koyama and Natsume sat behind each other. As Natsume looked with this bad-tempered look out of the window, Koyama was smiling into the mirror in front of him every minute, obviously trying to annoy the heck out of him.

I nearly wanted to palm-face seeing this stupid situation.

"Koko, why am I the only girl going with you?"

This seemed to grab Koko's attention, as he suddenly straightened up, held his pen still in his hand and turned back to face me with a surprised look, saying: "What do you mean, 'only girl'?"

* * *

In one hour, I discovered two terrifying facts about Koyama Ryouji.

One, he likes everything to the extreme.

Two, he will do everything to the extreme.

It wasn't really like I'd expected him to be completely obsessed with doing everything extreme, especially not since I knew that if he really was this strange, Mochu or anyone else would've mentioned so. So, I'll tell you why exactly I could conclude the above listed two points in just one hour.

That was because he managed to get us from Japan to China in one hour.

So I asked Koko in the plane – it flew terrifyingly fast, obviously; it was disgusting – how long it'd usually take normal people to fly from Tokyo to Shanghai, and apparently, the shortest flight would take three hours. THREE HOURS.

Now I had to admit Koyama's private jet was very impressive and I'd envied him for having a cool-looking one to begin with, but having us fly from Tokyo to Shanghai in one hour was really unasked for. Really. I saw how Koko was looking really pale in the jet, at times a bit trembling, yet still trying to stay calm and just normally talk, though he miserably failed when at a sudden moment, he'd hasted himself to the toilet, doing whatever-heaven-may-know.

Ruka had stayed silent for the whole trip and didn't seem to really care about what was happening to about Koko. Instead, he'd been looking out of the plane's window; staring into a space only he could actually see. It looked like something was bothering him big time, but I just couldn't bring myself to ask him what was wrong. He seemed just perfectly fine in the car, but the second he entered the plane, he seemed to refuse mutually to say anything to anyone. It was bothering for me to see him like that. It was obvious something was bothering him and it was not because he was feeling ill, but what could it be then?

"Mikan-chan, something wrong?"

And above all, the freakiest thing of all, what was creeping me out the most, was the fact Koyama had been smiling with an innocent smile on his face, as if nothing was wrong with the atmosphere in the plane at all. He was completely ignoring Koko's illness, or about Ruka's mental absence, neither did he seem to notice – or wanting to notice – Natsume's oh-so deadly glares. He was just sitting there, leaning with his head on his right hand, a brilliant smile on his face with a pair of sparkling brown eyes. It was annoying to look at.

"Nothing, really," I lied. "Just thought this plane might've been flying a bit… too quick for my stomach to take it, perhaps."

"Oh, I see. That's not good indeed. I really can't stop it now anymore, though," he'd replied, with no trace of sympathy to be found in his expression, thanks to the annoying smile. "I suppose you'll have to deal with it for some while."

I can tell you, if I had desks at that time, I think some smashing might've caused a certain private jet worth at least five billion bunnies to bombard the Eastern Chinese Sea.

"Why are we going to China anyway?"

"Oh, nothing really," he lied, as he grinned even more. "Just wanted you to meet someone. That's all."

And it was just the 'That's all'-part that made me feel very uncomfortable. I had this annoying feeling that made me think that he was trying to hide something and it was annoying. I looked at Natsume, who was now shooting even deadlier glares at Koyama. I couldn't understand anything of the situation.

* * *

An hour later, I found myself being pulled to all the sightseeing places of Shanghai. By whom, you ask? Ha. It's that 'someone' Koyama wanted me to meet. And that person known as 'someone' was actually called Hyuuga Aoi, Natsume's little sister.

She was horribly enthusiastic about showing me around, despite not knowing me as person at all. A voice in my head said Koyama was behind this and my miniscule brain agreed strongly with it. And that actually made me angry. What did he think he was doing? Using the little sister in order to get me have my time a bit around Shanghai?

Aoi pulled me back and forth. From The Bund she took me to the City God Temple and then decided all of a sudden that it would be nice to go to Nanking Road too to shop a bit. Nah. It wasn't like my feet practically died just after running down The Bund. And to think we'd done it all three in just four hours?

"Look here! It's my favourite restaurant. You really have to taste it!"

Aoi was different from Natsume. From the outside she was practically the same, but then female, with longer hair and far not as tall, yet her personality was lively, open and very bright. Thinking of her brother's easily annoyed and closed down character, made me feel it was just impossible for them to be siblings. Yet it was true.

We looked together in the various, huge and most important of all, awfully expensive shops. I noticed how Aoi looked at the most expensive leather bags from the most famous fashion labels and considered to buy it half of the time. The prizes were rising highly above my living expenses for a year back then at home. You know, at my real home, with my Mum. One bag had really just beaten me (and my Mum).

But the thing that bothered me while we were in the shops was mostly the fact she'd been acting as if her father's company had not gone bankrupt. The fact she considered buying those shiny handbags, looked at the expensive designer's clothes and wanted to buy me one made her strange. And most of all, she had no money. Why would she still want to go try Prada shoes while she already knows she can't buy them?

_Unless she doesn't know, of course._

I blinked with my eyes as Aoi just stood up from her comfortable seat as she put back the red shoes into the original box and gave it to the shop assistant, saying she was buying it. I frowned and when she noticed, she walked to the red sofa I was sitting on. I looked up in order to see her face, but I couldn't read her expressions off; the lights were shining too brightly.

"What's wrong, Mikan-chan? You've been spacing off." She asked me. I could slightly see her expression change a little bit into something I could only assume that was a smile. "Oh, here," she handed her credit card to the shop assistant.

"No, I was just wondering, you know…" I tried finding my words not trying to hurt her in any way by choosing the wrong ones. "Aren't you…? I mean, your Dad's company?"

"What's with Dad's company?" She bent down a little with a worried and not-understanding look. She moved her bangs covering her left ear behind her ears. The way she looked at that moment made it hard to believe that she was younger than me by three years, while she was really so mature, not only her personality, as well as her way of dressing. It was easily noticeable during the shopping (or just looking through the stores for me) by seeing the clothes she picked, the handbags and the high heels. It made me feel envious or actually, jealous.

Moreover, she really was not aware of the fact her father's company had gone bankrupt.

"Oh, thank you." She received the credit card from the shop assistant, along with the big bag with her shoes and scarves and whatever she'd bought too. Then she turned back to me again. "So, what was it…?"

"Oh, eh…" I scratched my head a little bit and tried to look like I was trying to remember something. "I don't know… I heard he fired five important employees all of a sudden?"

"Oh." Aoi blinked with her eyes. "That's not very nice of him."

"I guess so."

"Oh well, let's go," she took my hand all of a sudden and pulled me out of the store. While she looked around for a taxi at the end of the Road, I suddenly realized that someone, may it be Natsume or Koyama, would have a lot to explain. When she found a taxi, she pulled me by my hand again, into the taxi, as she suddenly said: "So, I heard you're my brother's new girlfriend?"

* * *

That evening, in the hotel that was awfully empty everywhere, we were having dinner at the lovely restaurant in the expensive-looking building. Fifty floors, the building had, and every floor was decorated differently than the other, the one even more detailed than the other. It made me envious how Koyama was able to afford a room by himself, let alone one for all of us. Or even to rent the whole hotel for a few days. Using Natsume's father's money. The money he'd lost.

It was an awkward dinner too.

It was clear to Koko and I that it wouldn't help if we'd even try to think of a topic, since everyone would just be like 'Yeah, you're right…' and then would continue having dinner again. No, no. We were ought to shut up, in this case, because we were outsiders. Neither of us two really knew Aoi, or her relation with Koyama. And neither did we really know the reason why we were brought to Shanghai. All we knew was that those four, Ruka, Aoi, Koyama and Natsume did know why. But they wouldn't tell us.

It was tough for me to sit there for half an hour. We didn't order a lot and I was lucky the restaurant didn't have western cuisine, because I can't live with all the different spoons, forks and such, but the silence really couldn't make me any happier anyway.

The only thing that I really could think of was catching Natsume. He had to explain it.

"Aoi, can I have the pepper?"

"Oh sure, here you go, Ruka." And she handed over the pepper.

And there was silence again.

My left elbow accidentally touched Natsume's. I apologized but he didn't even bother looking my way. He just continued eating again. All I could do was to sigh soundlessly.

Something had happened to him. He was just so irritated with something, that it wasn't even hard for me to figure out that it was bothering him. What was it, though?

"Mikan-chan," Ruka said, from the other side of the round table, that was decorated with flowers at the sides and glimmering gems, "would you mind staying here when we're done?"

"E- Eh. Sure."

Now this evening was just getting better and better.

It was the moment that the other five got up and left us at the round, empty table. Koko had looked back with a nervous and slightly anxious expression on his face, to which I could only reply with an even more nervous look. The 'outsiders' knew what pain they were going through. I turned back and looked at Ruka, with my lips sealed, waiting for him to speak up.

"I heard you started going out with Natsume."

I couldn't understand why everyone thought I did. I didn't date him, neither did I ever consider doing so. He and I just didn't go along well. "I'm not going out with him."

Ruka raised his right eyebrow. "I heard something different, though…"

"I'm really not-"

"She is going out with me." A pair of strong arms captured me from behind. They wrapped themselves around me and the back of the chair. "She asked me to go out with her, so I promised."

Ruka blinked with his eyes, but then he smiled a little bit. He stood up and took a deep breath. "If it's Natsume, I'm completely fine with it."

Maybe I hadn't noticed it before, or maybe I was just too stupid to even realize how Ruka really felt. Perhaps he really did just pity me for that stupid love letter and did he confess because he thought it was bad to turn me down. Or it could've been that he thought it'd be troublesome if he didn't confess and just let me down so that we wouldn't have awkward moments in the Palace every time we would see each other.

Either way, the way in which he let me down so quickly made me feel really disturbed.

I looked at Ruka with a dazed look, even though I knew it'd make me seem stupid. I noticed how Natsume had softly clenched his hands around my shoulders a little bit more, after he'd let go of wrapping himself around me. Ruka's smile stabbed me.

"I see." Natsume muttered. Then he recovered his arrogant smile and said: "Then, do you mind leaving us alone for a bit?"

Ruka nodded in silence. He probably also looked at me again before he stood up and walked out of the room, but my eyes were too clouded to validate my thought so. The only thing I could think of was how much my throat was hurting. Something was stuck in there and I felt like throwing up to get it out.

"You all right?" Natsume bent down and looked up at me. I looked to my left side to face him directly, still with the stupid, dazed look fixated on my face. He ignored it. "I heard you gasp a little…"

I snapped out of my daze and looked at him, startled by the fact he was worried about me and was asking me nice things. He paid attention to me and he wanted to know if I was OK. And he knew I wasn't happy.

Was it bad for me to cry on his shoulder that moment?

I asked myself when I was doing so. I thought about how Hotaru had looked at me the day at Central Park, probably thinking I wasn't seriously in love with Ruka. How could she know? She never showed any interest in my love life or problems regarding love.

I thought about what Aoi had told me in the car. They were all kind of facts about Natsume. She told me how Natsume could actually be really nice and really wasn't half as spoilt as everyone thought he was. And she might have been right.

And lastly I thought of Ruka. His smile just now, I couldn't tell if it was real or not. However, the fact he accepted this so easily was something I couldn't take.

"Aren't you angry at me?" Natsume asked me. His shoulder was wet of my tears, but he was still using a patient, nice voice. "It's because I said we're dating."

I gritted my teeth a bit and leaned back. I was bending on the floor now as well, facing Natsume. "If you didn't, I wouldn't have known his true feelings."

He hid his front head in the palm of his hand as a response to my answer, probably not believing my once again naïve personality. But it was true though. I couldn't feel anger at this moment. Maybe it'd still come anytime soon, but on that moment, I only wanted sadness to take advantage. Not both feelings at once.

I smiled.

* * *

"Well? Play it." Natsume said, standing beside me. I was looking at a grand piano that was standing in a big, soundproof room. It was painted beautifully. Completely black, shining in the light of the lamp hanging above it. The keys contrasting each other were mirrored in the black paint of it. I was staring at my own fingers, while sitting on the stool.

"I haven't played it in a long time."

Truth was, when I'd started to cry less and less until all I could do was sniffing, Natsume suddenly suggested taking me to the fourteenth floor of the hotel. He had discovered that I could play the piano a little bit.

"Just try," he insisted.

I looked at him for a bit and saw that he was being serious. He really wanted me to play. So I did. I hit the first key and finally recalled the feeling that I'd been missing for a long time. A piano, huh? I haven't played it in how long… nine years?

"Ten years ago, my mum taught me to play this piece." I told Natsume, while playing. "She said it was something my dad composed." Forte, forte, decrescendo… and then forte again. My dad probably liked to talk a lot and he was probably a very open and social person. Sometimes he would like to be alone though, and think about his problems without others worrying about him. "To think that I can still play it." I continued playing it for a long time.

Natsume, who'd been silent all the time, suddenly said: "You probably loved it a lot."

"And I still do." I smiled. I could feel the dried tears as I did so, but I still wanted to keep on smiling. "Every time I play this piece and close my eyes, it suddenly feels like he is standing next to me." I thought about my mother. "On that moment, I think I really reached that what they call happiness."

* * *

"Next, my turn to ask you a question. Hm…" I munched on the crisps Natsume had bought for me. "Favourite colour?"

We were sitting on the ground in the same room. The piano had been covered by a piece of white cloth, like it was supposed to be. We had been sitting there for hardly an hour, but neither of us both was bored, because Natsume had, all of a sudden, suggested doing a round of questions. Which means a lot of questions.

He raised his right eyebrow. "Standard question, that is. You're unoriginal. It's red."

"Dark red?"

"I guess." He rolled his eyes, then took a crisp out of my bag and ate it. "Favourite fairy tale?"

I glared at him, wondering how this random and un-like Natsume question came from. He pointed at something behind me as a response, so I looked back and saw a banner saying: "New Year Ball. Theme: Fairy tales." I sighed and said: "Cinderella."

"Cinderella?" He asked. He started leaning his chin on the palm of his hand, which he would do a lot when he was locked up in his room, focusing on whatever kind of things he would do in his room. "Thought you were more of the Beauty and the Beast type."

"Why?"

"You seem to fit the Beast's description very well."

I used the 'did-you-really-have-to-say-that?' look on him as he chuckled a bit.

"That's really lame. What? You see yourself as the Beauty then?"

He stopped chuckling and smirked instead. "Perhaps. Are you implying that we are indeed a couple then?"

"I wouldn't see why not, seeing the fact Ruka just rejected me." I said, putting another crisp in my mouth. "And I guess dating Mr. Rich Bastard wouldn't even be that bad."

"Mr. Rich Bastard became Mr. Poor Bastard, remember?"

"Haha. Oh, sorry. Shouldn't have laughed at that." I held my right hand in front of my mouth, showing I didn't mean it the bad way. He didn't really look angry, though, even if he really should have. Or at least, I would have, if I were him. He shrugged, with a bored look. I asked: "Why do you want me to be your girlfriend so badly?"

He shrugged again. "I need a reason to keep on rejecting all those annoying girls and you're giving me the easiest way out." But before I could say something, he already asked: "When and why did you start liking Ruka?"

I blinked with my eyes, as I put my bag of crisps aside. I knew he would probably ask this question sometime soon, but not today. "Because Ruka was the first to not look at me with the eyes of pity or to look down on me, just because I'm poor. Ruka always looks at me with a very gentle smile when I was happy and he would look worried when I looked troubled."

"Then why didn't you just directly give him his answer?"

I looked at him, surprised as I was. Natsume was curious about this. Maybe he didn't notice it, but the fact he continued asking about Ruka made me feel uncomfortable. Quickly, I said: "Your turn is over."

I couldn't see his face after that. He had hidden it behind his bangs and I didn't know what he was thinking. The atmosphere changed to a very gloomy, dark one. It didn't make me feel much better.

Something was wrong with Natsume, but I couldn't tell what it was.

* * *

**(A/N)**: I know. It's a rather boring and long chapter after a half year of no updating. Disappointing, isn't it? I fail. ;A; I've been wanting to write this chapter properly for a long time. I'm not going to use 'I'm busy' as an excuse anymore, because it hasn't been for the past few months. I've been seriously thinking about how to write this, but it still wouldn't work, therefore, this crappy chapter. :D

I will try to work a bit more properly next time. Promised. Just don't know if it'll work out. –sobcry- Thanks for your support and all. Seeing those mails notifying of sweet alerts makes me really happy. And thanks to my stupid real life sis for insisting on my writing this chapter, otherwise it would've been delayed another six months or something.

Everyone: Thank you for your reviews! I'm very sorry for not replying to your nice and sweet comments, so I will from now on. Thanks!  
Chris-tan: LOL. Congrats on getting the 200th place? Your video was my inspiration! -huzzah-

Accepting critique! Please do say it when something of my writing style is bothering you. Just don't me too harsh. ;A;


	10. Chapter 10

- -** Nine Princes, One Princess - -**  
9 + 1 is 2

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_A big thanks to_

_TheRandomChocolate, the best online friend you can wish for, for the most humorous lines you can ever think of, causing one to find the huge source of inspiration once again,_

_Chris, the best reader you can't even dream of – and whose digits I still haven't managed to remember,_

_And to you, for reading my story._

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_**C**__hapter __**T**__en**  
O**__f __**P**__athetic __**B**__ooks and __**S**__udden __**C**__onfessions_

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It was freaky how three days could pass in just the blink of your eye. I'd been standing there, daydreaming, as Natsume somehow managed to comfort me a little bit through those 72 hours of staring into the empty space no one else could see except for me. It was a white space, empty, but had a very warm feeling to it. What was it, I wonder?

But well, even if I didn't know what that space was, it didn't really matter. It was a nice escape route to daze off to anyway, especially whenever I'd gotten into the pinch of either being forced to talk to Ruka or having to be alone with Ruka.

Oh time, please grant my wish and go past me quickly, just as those past three days have done, so I'll be able to stand with both my feet in Tokyo again, ready to celebrate my 16th birthday with Nonoko, Anna and Hotaru.

Please.

I looked at Natsume, who was sitting in front of me, at the other side of the table in my hotel room, reading a book. The bright daylight was shining through the big, clean windows, but it was still cold outside. That was how it was, two days before New Year. And we were still in Shanghai.

Aoi, Koko and Ruka went out to look around a bit in other parts of the city. Before they left, they'd tried to get both of us join them as well, but I'd friendly excused myself from being dragged around the town once again, as Natsume had just simply turned around and entered my hotel room.

The question was, why did he have to go inside mine and why wasn't he willing to leave it when I told him to?

"Natsume, get out." I said, looking at the cover of the book he was reading. The big letters read '_How to become Rich'_. Tch. Moron. Everyone knew books like that were just written to deceive or just to amuse people who really didn't have anything else to do. Well, the second option could actually work on him, but still, it was a pathetic sight.

"No." He turned the page, as he still didn't take off his look from the white paper.

"Why are you in here anyway?"

He continued reading the book in silence. To a certain point, he started murmuring, quoting a difficult line from it and then he shook his head, as he closed _How to become Rich_. He cursed the author, saying what he'd written was complete nonsense. He put it to the side of the table and looked at me. "I'm bored. Amuse me."

I understood that Natsume was in money trouble, now that his father's company had fallen, as his little sister didn't even know. When I'd questioned him about Aoi having no knowledge about the bankruptcy, he requested me to not mention anything about it to Aoi and let her enjoy as much as she wanted. And later on, I discovered that he was doing jobs for Aoi, so to keep on donating money, so she could still live her life as properly as she used to. I'd disagreed to it, saying that she was spending a lot of money on expensive clothes.

"_Even so, it makes her happy, so let me do whatever I want."_ He'd said.

Despite the rude tune he'd added to it, I let him be. This hardworking side of him was something I didn't know and I wanted to enjoy it a little bit longer, despite knowing that sounded rather sadistic.

"I'm not your toy that I have to amuse you," I answered. "So answer my question."

"What question?" He asked, leaning his head on the palm of his hand, showing he was really bored.

I made a soft, yet snapping sound with my tongue, to show him that I was starting to run out of patience. "I asked you: Why are you in my room?"

"Because Koyama's probably in my room."

"Why would Koyama be in your room?"

"Dunno. I suspect him of being gay."

I looked at him, as dumfound as I was, with my mouth open, as my utter disbelief for his statement allowed me to do so. "_What?_"

"Oh come on, don't tell me you didn't notice." Said he, with an annoyed look on his face. "He used to cross dress, enjoys yelling like a girl and thinks that boy bands are hot."

"Eugh." I shook my head, understanding that he was trying to fool me again. "No… Just, no. Go back to your hotel room already. I doubt Koyama would like to stay in your doomed territory. From what I've seen, he hates your guts, just like I do."

"Ah. But we both know you and I go along quite well, now, don't we?" He suddenly grabbed my hand and gave kissed it. I looked at him, trying to act disgusted, yet failing at it. "After all, we're boyfriend and girlfriend."

"I refuse to admit so." I mumbled.

"But I know you like it." He smirked, as he started poking in my hand suddenly.

I glared at him. He grinned more.

It was hard for me to figure out what he was thinking exactly. Until now, I'd still not understood why it _had_ to be me who just _had_ to be acting as his girlfriend, while it was obvious that both of us didn't like, love, or even want to be with each other. Whenever I tried to ask him, he grinned and changed topics suddenly, not allowing me to mention it again for the next 24 hours.

The only thing I did know was that he was willing to pay me with bunnies if I kept it up until he thought it was enough. I didn't know the reason, but it was a compromise; he would get a fake girlfriend, I would get my money.

"Why do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

"Simple. No other girls that will be chasing me."

"I bet that's not the only reason."

"Hm, very sharp of you, Sakura Mikan." He said, grinning. "But I won't tell you."

"Tell me!"

"Right now I think the only thing I need to tell is that you seem to be enjoying our current relationship?"

"Don't flatter yourself. I might end up breaking your ego. And your legs."

"How scary," he said, making an 'I-don't-care-what-you'll-do' face. "Let's go on a date."

"What?" I looked at him with my jar open. I knew it was quite a disgraceful and stupid sight, but it couldn't be helped. This guy was drunk, positive. It was out of his character to take the initiative to go on a date, let alone a date with a pretending-to-be girlfriend. "No!"

"Let's go swim."

"No."

"Let's go have lunch."

"Are you kidding me? It's eight o'clock in the morning."

I sighed when I saw how he seemed to struggle with himself, deciding on a new suggestion. I couldn't help but to smile when I saw how 'cute' he suddenly was. He sometimes could be a bit like this, like a child. Those were moments I enjoyed to see. "Rather than doing anything of those, maybe it'd be an idea for you to sleep? You look tired."

"Do I?" He asked, as he scratched his hand.

"Yes, you do. Your eyes are a bit swollen."

"Fine." He stood up and walked in the direction of my bed.

"No, not my bed!"

"Yes, your bed." He lied down and closed his eyes. "I'll be napping here."

"Wait, you-"

I realized he was already in sleep. It was amazing how this guy was so tired that he could fall asleep after lying down for merely three seconds. I wouldn't be able to wake him up anymore. I sighed.

After looking around in the room that I had been sleeping in for three days already, my glance fell on the book Natsume had been reading. _How to become Rich_. It was clearly written for those who were dealing with money troubles and I did count myself as one of them. Assuming that Natsume wouldn't mind if I peeked in it, I gave myself permission to and found myself staring at a page full of words.

'_One of the biggest mistakes that are made when one is desperate for money is without a doubt the 'trust' in one's fortune. It's natural for human beings to have the feeling they have already won the game when they find themselves having reached the final destination: When one has managed to reach the amount of money that is needed, one often thinks it wouldn't 'hurt' to spoil himself for once. However, its result will always be the loss of money. When one starts spoiling himself, he will not be able to stop and thus he will have to start all over again. Hence, 'It wouldn't hurt to buy that bag for once' and 'Why shouldn't I spoil myself for once?' are taboo.'_

I chuckled softly. I could recognize that, even though it was a bit different. My mother used to be like that sometimes, even though the products in question would never be expensive in such situations. No, she would always be asking herself those questions when it was purely for herself. The thing was, however, that the goods she wanted to buy for herself were often very cheap and not expensive. I told her that she should spoil herself too, even if it was just something worth very little. She really pushed away the thought though, saying she would rather save up the money to buy something for the flower shop.

I smiled. That book was indeed trash, as Natsume said. It had a point of truth in it, but most of the time it was pointing out the mistakes of human beings. It was something I didn't feel like reading. It was in a kind of way quite depressing.

Rather than paying interest to the book, I decided it might be a good idea to think about Natsume for once. Perhaps he wasn't really as I predicted him to be; he could be nice sometimes, despite his evil nature. The rest of him was still a mystery though.

"Oh well, I guess that part of him isn't that bad either," I whispered, with a smile, as I looked at his sleeping face.

"'Him?'"

"… Yes, him."

I looked at Koyama, who was standing in the door opening of my hotel room. His hair was wet, probably from a shower, and he himself looked pleased with something.

"Don't tell me you're-"

I ran to the door, pushed Koyama outside, followed myself as well and closed the door as softly and quickly as I could. "I don't know what you wanted to say, but that look is something I don't like," I grunted, while pointing with my index finger at him.

"You've fallen for Natsume?" He asked, with an amused grin.

"Oh, come on," I crossed my arms, as I watched the water dripping from his hair, "there's no way I would fall for the devil. I'm not that stupid, alright?"

"You said-"

"I said that he has good sides as well. That's only a prove that Hyuuga Natsume is actually human, so nothing's wrong with the statement."

"Oh, really?" He said, pretending to be thinking about something. "That's odd then. I heard from Ruka that you're Natsume's _girlfriend_."

I narrowed my eyes at him and looked at Koyama's smirk. He was driving me into a corner, I realized. I couldn't tell him I was a pretending-to-be girlfriend, because that would ruin the situation and my _money_. I could only have one explanation for this situation and that was the explanation Koyama wanted to hear, yet something I didn't want to tell. "Really? You might've heard wrong."

"I'm sorry, Sakura Mikan, but it isn't that easy to fool me." He said, crossing his arms now as well, as he frowned upon hearing my weak reply. "If you like him, just tell me alrea-"

"It isn't her liking me. It's me liking her." A deep, familiar voice sounded from behind us.

I turned back to face Natsume, who was standing in the door opening, leaning to the sides weakly, clearly not completely awake yet. I knew that what he said, though, was not just sleep talk.

"You heard that, Koyama?" He asked. "_I like Sakura Mikan._"

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(**A/N**): I'm feeling drained. T.T

I'm going on a holiday in a few days, so please don't expect any updates from me for the next month. It's horrible timing, especially now that I've finally managed to regain _some_ inspiration.

Please excuse me for this sucky chapter. I suck.


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